Somnium et Umbra: Dream and Shadow
by The Narrator
Summary: *SEQUEL TO: What Dreams May Come!* ~COMPLETE~ (finally...) "Their love brought together from the darkness, and they are truly one. I never thought I would lose him." But what has Kikyou truly lost? Or is there hope when there are no endings?
1. Chapter One: Shadows Rise

Disclaimer: Yes, I do own Inuyasha.  I also own the squirrel that is sitting on your head as you are reading this. (It is 12:18 on a school night…give an authoress a break!)

That _was_ sarcasm by the way…

**Somnium et Umbra: Dream and Shadow**

**_Shadows Rise_**__

"Trust Inuyasha to wait for a potentially fatal situation to admit his feelings," Sango reflected aloud as she sharpened her boomerang, "I don't know if it's his innate stupidity or his stubbornness."

            "It's probably both," Miroku answered, taking the opportunity to close the distance separating him and Sango, "But is doesn't really matter now, does?  At least they both know they love each other.  I think they will be happy together."

            "So do" *SLAP!* "I," agreed Sango.  

Miroku hastily pulled back his stinging hand and scooted away from Sango's piercing glare with a sigh.  _So close, and yet so far…how can her hand move so fast?_

"If they're happy together, why did Kagome have to go home?" Shippo protested, his voice quavering somewhat.  He had been heart broken when Kagome insisted that she had to return to her time only a day after she and Inuyasha had barely survived a blizzard that had separated the companions.  Sango and Miroku had privately expected to find their absent friends dead from exposure, even without knowing the true extent of Inuyasha's wounds.  They had said nothing about these fears to Shippo, but the little kitsune had been in near-hysterics by the time the storm had ended and Sango and Kirara went out on a search.  Out of all of them, he had been the most relieved to have both Kagome and Inuyasha back safely.

"She didn't even stay an entire day," Shippo continued plaintively, "Are you sure she's still not mad at Inuyasha for trying to seduce her?"  
            "No, I'm pretty sure they're past that now," Sango told him, making a mental note to smack Miroku upside the head for ever teaching Shippo that word.

"Even if Inuyasha has trouble showing it, he cares deeply for Kagome-sama," Miroku explained, "Now that she knows this and that he loves her, it's less likely she'll be angry at him.  She understands Inuyasha more than anyone."

_'Maybe a little too well,'_ Sango thought, remembering how Kagome had been willing to stay and help Inuyasha despite the fact he had said his life belonged to Kikyou.  _'Why would anyone prefer an animated corpse over a sweet girl like Kagome?'_

Shippo looked at the two older humans who had become part of his foster family and mulled over what they, in their greater worldly experience, had told him.  "So that means," he said thoughtfully, "Inuyasha and Kagome will mate."

Sango dropped her boomerang and Miroku made a choking sound that was somewhere between an embarrassed cough and laughter.

"I d-don't know if they will do that," the youkai-exterminator finally managed, "Kagome is from a different time, a different _world_ after all."

"So?" Shippo countered.

"Ano, well…she might not…Inuyasha…they…" Sango looked over at Miroku for help.

"Maybe they will, maybe they won't," Miroku said carefully, surprisingly uncomfortable talking about something as delicate as "mating" with someone who did not look a day over five, "Love is never simple."

"But…" Shippo began.

"We just have to let them figure it out for themselves," Miroku interrupted, "We'll just have to stay out of their business and let them take their own time to decide what to do."  There was a moment of silence as they looked at each other, reflecting over the wisdom of the monk's advice.

_'Yeah, right,'_ was the immediate thought that came to all three minds, _'They'll figure out what to do when Inuyasha stops using swear words.'_

'~*~'

The thick, pristine blanket of snow made only the lightest crunching noise as his feet blurred over it with the speed of a hurricane-driven wind.  No ice-encrusted bough or sleeping creature stirred at his passing.  For once, Inuyasha's headlong rush to the Bone-eater's Well was not motivated by anxiousness; Kagome had promised to return that very day, and Inuyasha trusted her.  However, although he ran through the forest as if borne on silent wings, his thoughts roared and tumbled in his head till he almost swore with frustration.

First and foremost in his mind was how to protect Kagome when their quest would inevitably put her in danger.  The thought of potential harm to himself did not enter his mind (of course), both out of masculine pride and the unselfish desire to shield the one he loved from any harm.  _'I can't ask her to stay in her world,'_ he told himself, remembering how well such a resolve turned out the last time he tried it.  If a twenty-foot tree rammed down a well could not keep Kagome from returning to Inuyasha's time, he was hard-pressed to think of anything else.  _'We…**I** need her.'  _And it was not just finding Shikon shards or defeating Naraku.  He could not deny the empty feeling, the void that grew in him hourly when he was not with her, hearing her voice, her laugh.  _'Hell, I'd even be glad to let her "Osuwari" me if I got to see her again,'_ he admitted, grinning somewhat foolishly, _'…so long as we're not close to any thirty-foot cliffs…'_  Inuyasha twitched his ears, recalling, for a fleeting instant, the time that _had_ happened…and the cause.  _'Can't blame her for that, but still…augh!  Focus, baka!  The future's what's important!  You need to talk with Kagome…talk **with**, not at, or she'll sit you flatter than a one of those "book" things she's always carrying…'_

Suddenly, the trees parted and Inuyasha saw the well not a hundred paces ahead.  He slowed, sniffing the air; Kagome had not yet arrived.  _'Guess I ran a little faster than I thought,'_ he told himself, _'I wonder if she'd be upset if I just went to her world.  I could say I came to help her with her stuff…'  _Inuyasha came to a halt at the lip of the well and peered down into its depths, considering.

_The shadow flew from branch to branch.  It had crossed many leagues since its master had sent it out, and was now reaching the end of its journey.  To say the shadow thought or felt by any means known to man or beast would be to lie.  It merely was and soon it would cease to be; and that is what it wanted.  Soon, it would once more sink back into the comforting miasma of Hell that was its element, having finished its mission.  The light in this realm was an anathema to it, and it took a very strong will indeed to have given it shape, let alone make it obey.  But now, now! it had finally arrived.  Only a short distance of that accursed light to span, and it would once more sink into Oblivion…_

Inuyasha placed one foot on rotting wood of the well, his mind decided.  _'Wonder if she's going to be surprised when she sees…what?!'_  He froze instinctively, his youkai blood alerting his body to the presence of an intense you-ki.  A split second later, his nose caught a familiar, hated scent… _'Naraku?!  Where?'_  Inuyasha jumped back from the well, his hand flying for Tetsusaiga's hilt, his blood thrumming as he prepared to fight… but there was nothing.  Inuyasha whirled around, glaring around the clearing, seeking the enemy.  The sensation had been too intense to have been his imagination.  _'Where is that bastard?'_  "Naraku, come out here and stop hiding!  I don't have time for your stupid games!" he roared.

Nothing.

_'Dammit, where is he?!'_

_Impatience had made it miss its mark.  Impatience and the agony of being in the light.  It would not miss again…_

_'I can't even smell him anymore.  What in the Seven Hells is he up to?  If Kagome comes through the well right no...'_

_Strike!_

"Augh!"  Fire!  His body was on fire!  Inuyasha raised a hand to the back of his neck, searching for the dart or arrow that had struck him.  His fingers brushed against _something_, something that burned worse than Naraku's poisonous vapors.  He jerked his hand away, then snarled; like hell Naraku was going to think Inuyasha could not handle one of his cowardly attacks!  Inuyasha felt for the thing again and ripped it out of his flesh, throwing it onto the snow.  He tried to slash at it with Tetsusaiga, but it merely evaporated, leaving a stench that made Inuyasha want to throw up and pass out.  Grimly, he shook his head, and inspected the place where the thing had been.  There was only a hole melted into the snow, not a single trace of you-ki or anything else that might give a hint as to who or what his attacker had been.  _'If I've been poisoned, I suppose I'll feel it in a moment or two…'_ a little voice in his head told him that he was being far too calm about this, but he ignored it, _'I was here for something, now what was it…?'_  His eyes slowly came to rest on the well, and his damp brow furrowed slightly.  _'Oh yeah, Kagome…better hurry up before…better hurry up…'_

With slightly unsteady steps, the hanyou stepped up onto the lip of the well and plunged into the shadows…

'~*~'

"Kagome!"

"Hai, Mama?"

"Are you going to bring _all_ of these packets of hot chocolate?  You've got enough for a polar expedition, and you've dressed for it too.  Is that my old ski hat?"  Kagome's mother frowned at her sternly, to which Kagome responded with the most innocently beseeching face a teenager could hope to summon.  Mrs. Higurashi tried to keep up a frown, but when Kagome added a little bit of pouting lips, her sternness dissolved in chuckling.  "Oh, for goodness sakes, Kagome!" she admonished gently, "Sometimes you act like you haven't outgrown second grade!"

"So, can I bring them?" Kagome asked carefully, ever-so-stealthily slipping the nearest packets into her already bulging backpack.

"Of course," her mother said with a little sigh, "I can't imagine what it would be like to have never had hot cocoa on a snowy winter's day…"

"Oi, nee-chan, why are you bringing all these blankets?" Souta wanted to know, pawing curiously through Kagome's backpack.

"Hey, that's none of your business!" Kagome yelped, batting his hands away.  Souta wrinkled his nose at her and stuck out his tongue.  Kagome half-snorted in exasperation; Souta had been hanging around her ever since she had gotten back, peppering her with questions until she hit him over the head with a stuffed panda.  "Why aren't you in school today?"

"Duh," snapped the little boy, "School's closed because of the blizzard!  It's the worst one in twenty years!  Didn't you hear us talking about it at dinner last night?"

"No," Kagome admitted sheepishly; she had been so tired she had nearly fallen asleep in her ramen bowl.  Her brother rolled his eyes.

"Well, I guess it's just a case of good timing," Mrs. Higurashi interpolated cheerfully before Souta could think up a smart remark, "At least you won't be missing any school for a couple of days."

"Yeah, lucky me," Kagome said, shivering unconsciously.  The last blizzard she had experienced was less than pleasant.  _'Although…he **really** was so warm…and…'_

"Nee-chan's blushing!" Souta observed, "Hey, does Inuyasha-nii-chan have anythin…"

"Well, I think it's almost time I went back!" Kagome said loudly, slinging the bag onto her back, "I'm sure everyone's waiting for me.  I told them all about hot cocoa and Shippo really wanted some."

"Have a good time, dear, and you can keep the ski cap," said Mrs. Higurashi, "I only wish Grandpa's poker friends hadn't stayed so late last night, or he would have been up to see you off."

"Give him a kiss for me," Kagome replied, turning for the door.  She stopped to slip on an old pair of work boots that had belonged to her father, then raised her hand to the knob.  "Bye, everyone!  I'll see you in…ah!"

"Kagome?  What's wrong?"  Mrs.  Higurashi and Souta rushed out into the foyer at the sound of Kagome's startled outburst.

"Inuyasha-nii-chan!" Souta cried gleefully upon seeing the hanyou standing in the doorway, snow swirling about him.  Souta would have rushed to cling onto to him, but his older sister was in the way.  _'She gets to see him all the time, it's not fair!'_

"Inuyasha, what are you doing here?" Kagome asked, "I said I was coming right back, you didn't have to…"

"You mean, you didn't want to see me?" Inuyasha interrupted, but with none of his former peevishness.  Mrs. Higurashi's eyebrows quirked up slightly; she had seen enough interaction between this hanyou and her daughter to notice _something_ was out of the ordinary.

"Of course not, baka," Kagome said affectionately (her mother's eyebrows twitched up a little further), "You just didn't have to go through the trouble of crossing time, since I was coming right back."

"What if I wanted to?" Inuyasha asked softly, leaning forward somewhat (Mrs. Higurashi's eyebrows were now currently somewhere in her hairline and Souta was beginning to work up an oh-my-God-are-they-being-mushy? face).  Kagome blushed and hastily drew Inuyasha into the house, shutting the door and cutting off the swirling winds of the snowstorm that had scattered flakes all over the floor.  Inuyasha stumbled slightly and emitted a soft groan, which Kagome instantly picked up on.

"Inuyasha, are you okay?" she asked anxiously, noticing the flush over his face that could not just be from the wind and the slight sheen of sweat over his features.

"Nothin's wrong with me," Inuyasha almost growled and pulled his arm away from Kagome, but with none of his normal strength.  Kagome was instantly alarmed.

"Mama, can Inuyasha come in and lie down on the couch for a bit?" she asked her mother, dropping her bag onto the floor.  She seized a hold of the slightly protesting hanyou and began dragging him toward the living room.

"I'll get some pillows," Mrs. Higurashi said, the question _"What exactly have you and my daughter been up to?"_ dissolving instantly from her mind.

"Look, Kagome, let's just go back," Inuyasha complained as Kagome tried to push him down onto the sofa.  He was being stubborn about it, so Kagome resorted to sitting down on the couch and pulling Inuyasha down next to her.  Well, that was what she _wanted_ to do…

"Nee-chan, I don't think you should be doing that with Mama home," Souta pointed out teasingly.

Kagome glared at him and tried shifting Inuyasha out of her lap.  _'Mou!  He's so heavy!'_

"I don't wanna move!" Inuyasha whined, sounding like a disgruntled toddler.  He leaned his head onto Kagome's shoulder and burrowed his nose into her neck.  "I like this better."

_'Eep!'_  "Inuyasha!" Kagome hissed, aware that Souta was giving her a very disgusted look, and, more importantly, that her mother's footsteps were approaching the living room.  _'Wait, he's so hot!  He's practically burning up!'_  The sudden shock that came with this realization gave Kagome the strength to stand and lay Inuyasha out on the length of the sofa, just as her mother entered the room with an armful of pillows and blankets.  Inuyasha growled feebly and squinted up at her, his hand on his forehead.

"What's wrong with him?" Mrs. Higurashi asked as she watched her daughter kneel beside the hanyou and feel his forehead with the back of her hand.

"I think he has a fever," Kagome answered.  She took the pillows and blankets from her mother and quickly arranged them around and on Inuyasha to make him more comfortable.  As she did this, Inuyasha continued to growl and shift irritably, pushing her hands away from him.  Kagome did not take it personally, but she was upset that Inuyasha had come to see her when he was obviously sick.  Mrs. Higurashi and Souta looked on anxiously, sensing that something terrible and unexpected was occurring right under their eyes.  _'Why does he have to be so stubborn about things like this?  If he's sick, then it must be really bad!'_  "Do we have a thermometer somewhere?" she asked, more for want of saying something to dispel the tension than for any real purpose.  She did not even know Inuyasha's normal body temperature.

"I'll get it!" Souta offered, darting down the hall to the bathroom.

"I guess I should make some hot tea," Mrs. Higurashi said doubtfully, but she did not move.  She watched her daughter as Kagome stared down intently into Inuyasha's face.

"What's going on?" Inuyasha croaked.  His condition seemed to worsen with each passing moment.

"Why aren't you home resting if you're sick?" Kagome shot back at him, but her words were soft and full of concern.  Inuyasha turned his head and squinted his eyes at her, as if he was having trouble seeing properly.

"Why did it get so dark all of a sudden?" he rasped, apparently having not heard Kagome's question, "Kagome?  You're still there, right?"

"I'm right here," Kagome reassured him, taking one of his hands and touching his cheek, "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere."

"Found it!" Souta called out, running back into the living room, the thermometer in his outstretched hand, "It was all the way at the top of the medicine cabinet!"

"Souta, I told you not to climb up there!" Mrs. Higurashi scolded half-heartedly, for everyone was more concerned with Inuyasha's condition than any eight-year-old's transgressions.

The thermometer was one those ultra-modern ones that was supposed to give instantaneous readings after being placed in a person's ear.  Kagome pushed the button to turn it on and glanced at Inuyasha's dog ears, which were laying almost listlessly against his skull.  "Inuyasha, I'm going to take your temperature," she said to him slowly, "You're going to feel something in your left ear, but it will be gone in a moment, okay?"

"Wha…?" 

"Done!" Kagome said, quickly depressing the temperature recording button and looking at the small screen.  She instantly turned white at the high numbers.  "40*C!  Mama, we have to do something!"

"We must take him to the hospital," Mrs. Higurashi said, "They'll know how to treat him there."

"We can't do that, Mama, don't you think they'd say something?!" Kagome retorted, pointing at Inuyasha's ears.  She could feel the panic rising in her chest, and hastily thrust it down.  '_Nothing good ever came of panicking,'_ she reminded herself, _'But what am I supposed to do now?'_

"Kagome?!"  Inuyasha's hand grabbed her arm with such suddenness and strength Kagome yelped.  "I don't think I… I …I'm kinda tired now…" Inuyasha's hand slowly relaxed and fell to his side. 

"You need to rest, okay?" she told him, stroking his hair and cheeks, "Souta, can you get me a wet washcloth?"  

"Right!"

"Mama, maybe some water could help?"

"Of course, dear," Mrs. Higurashi said, walking immediately to the kitchen.  As she filled a glass from the tap, she briefly reflected on Kagome's calm demeanor. _'She's acting so grown up, like she's been a situation like this before…'_  She shook her head and moved back into the living room.

"I have to go back and bring Inuyasha with me," Kagome said an hour later.  Inuyasha's condition had not worsened, but it had not improved either.  It was obvious he was fighting whatever disease that had taken hold of him, judging from the strain on his features and the way his body occasionally spasmed with pain.  Kagome's grandfather had joined the vigil, taking over for Kagome's mother, as she had to make a run to the supermarket for extra batteries and candles should the storm knock out the power.  Kagome could do no more than bathe his face and coach him in drinking water, for she did not know what effect modern medicines and painkillers might have on him.  _'His clothes are beginning to soak with sweat…'_  "But first, help me get him out of his kimono.  Grandpa, can he wear one of your yukata?"

"All right," Grandpa agreed immediately, "Souta…?"

"On it!" said the boy, glad that he could help his hero in any way.

"I'll get him into sitting position while you get the kimono off," Kagome said, standing and gently pulling Inuyasha upright by his shoulders.  Inuyasha groaned and lolled his head, and Kagome reached around to support it.  As she did so, her hand brushed against the skin on the back of his neck.

"What's wrong?" Grandpa asked her, noticing her sudden stillness.

Kagome did not answer.  Instead, her hand pushed aside the long fall of Inuyasha's white hair and she stared at the place where she had sensed the chilling bite of you-ki.  Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of the ugly wound: in the very center was a ring of small, blood red punctures about the width of her first thumb joint.  Veins of black radiated from this center, tracing the blood vessels just under the skin, which was dead white and corpse-cold to the touch.  The concentration of you-ki Kagome sensed, however, was farther down Inuyasha's spine.  _'It's spreading…it's reaching for his heart!  There's also some of it going up, toward…'_

"Grandpa, I need to get him out of here!"

"What's wrong, nee-chan?" Souta piped, entering the room with a navy-blue yukata in his hands.  The shrillness of Kagome's voice scared him; she had been so calm and collected before, what could possibly have changed?

"He's been bitten by something, some kind of youkai, I think," Kagome explained hastily.  Grandpa came up beside her and looked at the wound she was pointing to with a trembling finger.  His eyes widened in dismay and he nodded.

"But how are you going to get him to help all by yourself?" Grandpa asked her, "We'll help you carry him to the well, but from what you told me, it's a pretty good walk to get to the village."

_'And Kaede-baa-chan is the only one who could help with this.'_  "I guess I'll have to…I have to leave and tell the others so they'll be there and can take him to Kaede-baa-chan's house," Kagome said reluctantly, loathe to even think about leaving Inuyasha's side.  She gently lowered Inuyasha back down onto the couch and stared into his face.  His eyes were closed in fevered sleep and his jaw was clenched so hard the muscles stood out in sharp relief.  Without second thought, Kagome kissed him quickly on the lips, whispering, "I'll be back, I promise," then rose, her face set with determination.  "Please take care of him," she said as she walked toward the door, "I'll be back as soon as I can!"

"Kaede-baa-chan!  Miroku-sama!  Sango-chan!  Shippo-chan!"

"Kagome-sama?"

"Kagome-chan, you're back!"

"Where's Inuyasha?"

"I don't have time to talk about it right here!  I need you to come with me to the well, I'll explain on the way!  Kaede-baa-chan, I…Inuyasha really needs your help!"

'How is he?!" Kagome called as soon as she burst through the door, pulling at the laces on her boots, and then finally tearing them off with impatience.  She sprinted into the living room.

"His fever went up a little bit," her mother told her, "But you need to calm down Kagome!  You might hurt yourself!"

"I really don't care about that right now!" Kagome fairly raged, slipping past her mother to kneel down beside Inuyasha.  He had been changed into Grandpa's yukata and a pair of her father's sweatpants, but these, too, were almost drenched in sweat already.  "Where are his other clothes?" she asked.

"Right here," said Grandpa, handing Kagome her backpack, "I took the liberty of repacking it and adding some medicinal herbs that might be a little hard to get over there."

Kagome took it from him and hugged him tightly.  "Arigatou," she said fiercely, "Arigatou, all of you, for helping him."

"That's what families are for, Kagome-chan," her mother chided with a smile, "Now, let's get him down to the well!"

"I feel kind of bad about leaving Miroku behind like that," Kagome admitted as Shippo rocketed through the forest in his demented-rocking-horse-form [A/N: I _know_ that's not what it is, but that's what it looked like to me in the movie!].

"Don't," Shippo answered shortly, saving his breath for pushing every ounce of speed he could, "He insisted."

"True," Kagome replied.  Far ahead and above, Kirara, with Sango and the nearly unconscious Inuyasha, flew with greatest speed toward the village.  Miroku had been left to his own devices (and Kagome's backpack) at the well, saying, as he climbed out from going down to help Kagome, that: "Speed is what matters now.  We don't have time on our side for something like this."  His cursory examination of the wound had only produced a grim set of his mouth and a small shake of his head.

"Look, Sango and Kirara are already there!" Kagome shouted as they broke free from the concealment of the forest and the village spread out below them.

"I'm hurryin', I'm hurryin'," Shippo gasped, forcing himself to go even faster.  He blasted down the hill, kicking up flurries of snow as he went.

"I already took him inside," Sango informed Kagome as the pair pulled up to Kaede's hut, "Kaede-sama is looking at him right now."  Kagome dismounted and Shippo instantly returned to normal with a *pop!*  His eyes swirled in his head and he passed out from sheer exhaustion on the snow.

"Shippo-chan!" Kagome cried out, picking him up in her arms and cradling him tenderly.  _'Everyone's trying so hard…we all want him to get better...Inuyasha, you **have** to get better, please!'_  She ducked inside of the hut, and approached Kaede.  "Kae…"

Kaede shook her head and looked up into Kagome's face, her one eye telling everything in a single glance.  "I cannot cure this," she said unnecessarily, "I have not the skill, nor the power to…"

But her voice was already far away, muffled like it was coming to Kagome through thick, black fog.  She fell, her knees giving out on her, her arms still clutching Shippo's unconscious form to her chest.  _'No, no, no, no, no, NO, NO!!!  It can't happen like this!  Just when we were…just when he and I…I won't let it happen!  I WON'T LET IT BE LIKE THIS!!!'_

Narrator here.  Yes, I am being very inconsiderate by leaving off like this, but do not fret!  I have pretty much the entire story written out in my head and a day off from work to write it!

Note:  40*C (degrees Celsius) is approximately 104.3 degrees Fahrenheit.


	2. Chapter Two: Desperation

Disclaimer: No rest for the wicked. *sigh* And no copyrights to awesome anime characters either.  Inuyasha and them are not mine!

**Somnium et Umbra: Dream and Shadow**

**_Desperation_**

****

_            ' This can't be happening…I'm dreaming…this is a dream…a nightmare…'_

            "Kagome-chan?" Sango called anxiously as she saw her friend crumple to the ground at Kaede's pronouncement.  Kagome's face was blanched, her eyes wide and staring at nothing.  Her hold on Shippo tightened, and Sango moved to take the poor kitsune from her.  "Kaede-sama, are you certain nothing can be done?" Sango asked the miko, "Is Inuyasha…will he…?"

            "Not just yet," Kaede said gravely, turning her head to look at Inuyasha, who was lying on a futon on the far side of the fire pit, "The fever is only the first stage and if it has not killed him yet, it will not."

            "'First stage'?" Sango echoed, standing up with Shippo in her arms, "You know what it is, then?"  
            "Aye, that I do," Kaede answered, " 'tis the you-ki of _yoru-kyoufu_, "night-horrors," that come from the realm of Nightmares in Hell.  I know not how such darkness was given shape in our world, but it was summoned by someone with enormous evil power."

            Sango's eyes narrowed to slits.  "Naraku," she hissed angrily; Kaede nodded.  "That bastard!  He finally got one of his cowardly attacks to work!"

            "Kaede-sama!" Miroku gasped, bursting into the hut, his robe damp with melted snow and clinging to his body, steam billowing from his mouth as he strove to catch his breath.

            "It's Naraku," Sango informed him in clipped tones, anger and hatred smoldering in her eyes, "He summoned a power of Hell and used it to poison Inuyasha."

            Miroku placed Kagome's bag on the floor and walked over to Inuyasha's prone form, his normally cheerful expression dark with anger and worry.  The hanyou seemed lost in a world of delirium, for his eyes, though open, could not focus on anything, and only indecipherable growls came from his throat.  "Is there no way we can fight this, Kaede-sama?" Miroku asked Kaede.

            "I have neither the power nor the knowledge to cure something of pure evil such as this," Kaede answered, "Only a miko with extraordinary skill and the ability to call souls back from the dead would be able to purify the you-ki from Inuyasha's spirit and body."

            "Is there such a person?" Sango wondered.

            Just then, Inuyasha emitted an anguished howl, his body going completely rigid, his back arching until he was only touching the futon with his head and the backs of his heels.

            "Sango!  Help me restrain him!" Miroku yelled to be heard over Inuyasha's roars.  Sango immediately set Shippo on the ground and rushed over to help Miroku.

            "Hang on, Inuyasha!" Miroku bellowed as he and Sango tried to force Inuyasha's body back to earth.

            "_INUYASHA!!"_  Jolted out of her shocked state by Inuyasha's cry of pain, Kagome rushed over to aid her friends, sobbing as she felt the pain coursing through him even as they managed to overcome Inuyasha's weakened strength.  Inuyasha continued to growl softly, his body raging with heat.  Kagome caressed his face and mumbled comforting words, not knowing what else to do.  "He's dying, he's dying…!" she sobbed.

            "He will not die just yet, child," Kaede told her.  Kagome fixed her with anxious eyes, pleading for Kaede to provide some hope, but Kaede had none to give her.  "His body is fighting the you-ki with more strength than any mortal's, but it will eventually reach his heart and his mind.  Whether it will kill him then, I know not.  He may lose his soul to it or he might forever be condemned to a half-life."

            "That's not possible…" Sango whispered, not wanting to believe it.  Miroku, knowing better, only cursed under his breath and wracked his brain for anything that might prevent Kaede's prediction from coming to pass.

            "You said that a miko with the ability to bring souls back from the dead would be able to save him?" he asked Kaede.

            "Aye, but I know of no miko alive today who could do such a thing," Kaede answered.

            "Because she isn't," Kagome said quietly.  The others stared at her.  "The only one who could help Inuyasha is already dead," Kagome continued, still looking down at Inuyasha's fevered face, "but she wants his death for herself, so I don't know if she'd help him."

            "You don't mean…?"

"Kikyou…"

            "But how would we find her?" Sango wondered.

            "We don't even know where she li…where she is," Shippo continued dishearteningly.  The kitsune had recovered from his fainting spell and, after having been told of the situation as it stood, joined in the effort to help find a solution.

            "Normally, she would just show up," Miroku added quietly, "She had the uncanny ability to show up when he was wounded, if you remember."

            Sango snorted indelicately.  "Hn.  I wish she would use that ability right now when we could actually use her help, for once."  She glanced out of the corner of her eye at Kaede and Kagome, who were cooking up some herbal medicine to relieve Inuyasha's fever.  She doubted if Kagome could hear their conversation, but Kikyou had always been an uncomfortable subject in the group, and they tried to avoid discussing it in Kagome's presence because of the pain it caused her.  _'Of course, that was when Inuyasha had said Kikyou had his life,'_ she thought, '_Now that that little problem is resolved, Kagome must still be worried that Kikyou will still try to claim him.'_

            "Yes, I know, but wishing isn't going to get us anywhere," Miroku pointed out a little helplessly.  He put a hand to his forehead and sighed.  "We're talking in circles.  Do we have any idea how we can even start looking for Kikyou-sama?"

            "I don't suppose going through the forest yelling "Kikyou!" at the top of our lungs is going to help much, is it?" Shippo suggested.  The others were too engrossed in thought to even indicate they had heard his weak attempt at lightening the mood.

            "But how will we get him to drink it?" Kagome asked Kaede, looking down at the wooden bowl of thick, frothy green broth she held in her hands, "He's barely conscious."

            "He must drink it, or the fever is going to make it that much harder to keep fighting the you-ki," Kaede said.

            Kagome stared at Inuyasha.  "I have an idea…this won't hurt me if I don't swallow it, right?"

            "It should not, but why…?"

            Kagome raised the bowl to her lips and sipped a small mouthful of the bitter-smelling brew.  _'Yick!  Inuyasha, don't hold this against me, but…'_  Quickly, she lowered her face to his and took his half-opened lips between her own.  Carefully, so that he would not choke, she eased the medicine from her mouth to his, giving him time to swallow.  After Inuyasha had taken the dose, she lingered for a moment longer, praying that his eyes would open and that he would bring his arms around her to hold her, telling him that he was well, that she no longer had to worry.  But she knew it was a vain hope, so she broke away from the kiss and sat up.  "How much more does he need to drink?" she asked in an empty voice.

            "Once more ought to be enough," Kaede said softly.  She wanted to say some words of comfort to the girl, but could think of none that would not be empty.

            _'If Kikyou is the one who can cure you, she can say what she wants to me, she can try to take my soul, I don't care, I want you alive,' _Kagome thought, lowering her face for another kiss, _'I love you and I won't see you die like this!'_  She finished giving him the medicine, and immediately picked up another cool cloth to replace the one already on his forehead.  _'If only I knew where she was!   If only there was some way I could…Kikyou, where are you?  Inuyasha needs your help!  Please, help him.  Where are you?'_  Kagome searched her mind, sensing, _knowing,_ that there was some way she could find her erstwhile incarnation, but the solution eluded her.  _'Kikyou!'_

            The change was faint, so subtle that Kagome almost dismissed it as a product of stress.  But when the sensation did not go away, growing stronger instead, she could no longer ignore it.  It felt as though her surroundings had blurred and were running together with the boundaries of another place.  If Kagome had the time to analyze it, she would have noted the similarities with the portal in the Bone-Eater's Well, the space of time where the present melded and then changed to the past.  It was a frightening feeling, but Kagome could sense the purpose of it, that whatever innate spiritual power in her body was searching, reaching out to something as yet unknown to answer her desperate prayers.  Running out of time, Kagome focused on it, seeking whatever was at the other end of the portal…

            Twigs brushed up against the thick cotton sleeves of her kimono, never quite catching the material.  The snow weighted down the hem of her hakama, slowing her down ever so slightly.  Ahead, the men who waited for her to attend their wounds would have hopefully started the noon meal inside the shrine.  She mentally reviewed the store of medicinal herbs she had laid away, and hoped that there would be enough.

            Kagome blinked; she could not feel the cold of the snow nor hear the sounds of the forest.  Instead, there was the normal warmth of Kaede's hut and the low murmur of her friends' voices, but even these were muted, far away.  _'What's happening?'_

Her feet stopped and she surveyed the forest.  Something she could not quite identify had pricked her consciousness.  Whether good or ill, she had to find it.  _'Who's there?'_

            It was a ridiculous question, or so Kagome thought.  "It's me, I'm here," she answered aloud.

            _'Who's there?'_

_            "It's me.'_  The surreal quality of the tableau intensified.  Kagome did not know if the questioner was another person or herself.  _'Am I going crazy?'_

            _'What do you want?'_  It was a different question, at least, but again, Kagome was not sure who had asked it.  And it was not really a question; it was more a feeling of puzzlement, the emotion of caution, which echoed in her mind.  Hesitantly, Kagome summoned an impression of herself, not unlike the image she saw in the mirror.

            The response was immediate, and the cautionary tone had been replaced with one slightly more hostile.

            _'I am Kikyou.'  _Not a mirror image, but the sensation of cold and indomitable will, of bright power marred by shadows of hatred.  _'What do you want with me?'_

            It was like communicating with colors and fog; Kagome concentrated, calling forth the desperation she now felt.  _'I need help.'_

            _'Why?'_

"It's Inuyasha," Kagome whispered, but she knew Kikyou could not hear her.  She could feel the heat of Inuyasha's fever beneath her fingers and hear the low growl of his pained breathing.  _'Sickness…'_  Inuyasha himself, the way had looked just when she had realized something was wrong with him, the way his eyes and voice seemed more distant.  _'Inuyasha, something is wrong with him…'_  The fiery burn of the you-ki she had felt when she had tried to move him, its malevolent seeking of his mind and heart.  _'A shadow, he's going to…'_  The nightmare that had come to her during the storm, of holding Inuyasha's in her arms and watching the light of his soul vanish from his eyes.  _'…die.'_  Kagome could no longer hold back the desperation of her fear.  _'You can help him!  You have to power to save him!  Please save Inuyasha!'_

            There was a pause, and Kagome feared that Kikyou had left, had shut off the connection between them.  _'I will come for him,'_ came the answer after a long while, _'I will save him.'_  And then, Kikyou was no longer there and Kagome was once more restored to the solid reality of Kaede's hut.

            "Kagome-sama!"  Miroku was shaking her, staring into her face as though he was afraid that she too was dying.

            "Miroku-sama?" Kagome managed, blinking and shaking her head.  _'What **was** that?  Was I dreaming, or is Kikyou really…?'_

            "You looked like you…I don't really know for sure what you looked like," Miroku told her, still gripping her arms as if afraid she would once more slip away.  Kaede, Sango, and Shippo peered at Kagome over Miroku's shoulder, their expressions mirroring his.  "You looked like you were seeing something that wasn't there," Miroku continued, "and you were speaking to someone.  You didn't hear us when we called you."

            Kagome shook her head once more, smiling wanly to reassure them. "I...I really don't know what happened," she said softly, "but I think…Kikyou is coming."

            "What?" Sango blurted.

            "How?" Shippo yelped at the same time.

            "I talked to her…I think," Kagome explained, furrowing her brow.

            "You…talked…to Kikyou-sama?" Miroku repeated doubtfully.

            "It might not be as impossible as you might think," Kaede supplied.  They all looked at her, Kagome included.  "After all, Kagome is the reincarnation of my sister, and the two of them share the same soul, or at least part of it."

            _'This again,'_ Kagome thought with a spark of anger, _'How many times will I have to say that I'm my own person?  My soul is mine, not anyone else's!'_

            "That might explain why Kagome would be able to communicate with her on some level," Kaede continued, heedless of Kagome's growing anger.

            "Then why hasn't this happened before?" Sango asked, casting a sidelong glance at Kagome, "Why hasn't Kagome ever known what Kikyou was thinking?"  
            "There never was a need to, I suppose," said Kaede, "They share the same power, too.  Kagome simply tapped into it for the first time in desperate need."

            "As interesting as this speculation is," Kagome said with a slight edge in her voice, "I think it would be best if we got things ready for Kikyou.  Miroku?"

            "Yes?"

            "You can let go of me now.  I'm okay."

            "Oh, right," said the monk sheepishly, releasing his hold on her.  Sango cocked an eyebrow at him, to which he responded with hands raised in supplication and a disarming grin.  Sango only rolled her eyes in exasperation and watched Kagome walk over to her bag and take out blanket after blanket, selecting a few to add to the one already covering Inuyasha.  _'She really is willing to go through with this, even if Kikyou is the one she had to ask help from.  I hope Inuyasha survives to know how much she loves him.'_

            "I think he's getting worse," Shippo said anxiously, biting his lip as Inuyasha continued to breathe rapidly, his breaths shallow and rasping.

            "His fever is going down though," Miroku pointed out, nudging the kitsune.  Shippo glared at him before he noticed the monk indicating Kagome with a slight incline of his head, and instantly felt like a moron.  He blushed.

            "It is going down," Kagome said, her hand on Inuyasha's forehead, "but I think the you-ki is growing stronger.  Kaede-…"

            "I do not know what is happening to him now," the elderly miko interrupted, shaking her head, "What I know of the yoru-kyoufu is only vague speculation and rumor."

            _'What we need is Kikyou show up.  Where is she?'_ Sango thought, _'Could it be that she decided not to help Inuyasha after all?'_  As soon as the idea flashed in her mind, she realized that that thought might have occurred to Kagome.  She watched as her friend folded up the navy yukata Inuyasha had arrived in (They had taken it and the sweat pants off when Miroku pointed out the best way to lower Inuyasha's fever would be to remove the hanyou's clothing.  He and Shippo had put Inuyasha's normal clothes back on when Miroku became worried that Inuyasha's temperature might be falling _too _rapidly.).  Kagome seemed calm in comparison with her initial shock, but Sango did not want to know the anguish the poor girl was going through as she watched the one she loved possibly dying before her eyes.  The uncertainty of it all was probably most agonizing, what would happen to him and whether or not Kikyou would arrive in time to save him.  _'And what she will ask for in return…'_

            Suddenly, Kagome's head came up, her eyes lighting with tremulous anticipation.  "She's here," she announced.  Kagome got to her feet and went to the door.  Sango, Miroku, Kaede and Shippo glanced at each before following her example.

            "I don't see her," Shippo said, looking out over the village and down the road that passed before Kaede's house, "Kagome, are you sure…?"

            "There," said Kagome, lifting her hand and pointing to the dark grey sky.  Even as she spoke, Kikyou, her soul-stealers wending about her like so many snakes, descended from the sky and came to earth right in front of them.  If Miroku unconsciously gripped his staff a little tighter and Sango made a slight movement to where her boomerang was normally hung and if Shippo's and Kirara's fur seemed to stand on end, it may be forgiven.  The sheer emptiness in Kikyou's eyes as she surveyed her welcoming committee was somewhat unnerving.

            Kagome stepped forward hesitantly, remembering her last meeting with Kikyou; the miko had not killed her, but she had made Kagome somewhat leery of ever getting within arms' reach of her.

            "Thank you for coming," she said, bowing nervously.

            "Where is he?" Kikyou asked tonelessly, looking past Kagome to Kaede's hut.

            "He's inside.  Please, follow me," Kagome replied, straightening and turning on her heel.  Her heart was pounding loudly in her ears and she angrily willed it to stop; she had no desire to show any weakness in front of Kikyou, especially not now.  There was no disdain in Kikyou's eyes or voice, but Kagome had no idea what was going on behind that lovely dispassionate face that was supposed to be so like her own.

            Kikyou approached Inuyasha and knelt beside him with a silent solemn grace that made Kagome instantly feel like a gawky girl of eleven all over again.  She frowned, irritated at herself.  _'Stop being so damned self-conscious; this has nothing to do with you and everything to do with Inuyasha's life!'_ she scolded.

            "Kagome-sama?" Miroku whispered as he entered the hut behind her.  She turned her head and noticed the looks of concern everyone was giving her.  It made her even angrier at herself, that her self-consciousness was visible to everyone.

            "It's nothing," Kagome whispered back, "I just want Inuyasha taken care of, that's all that matters."

            "Kikyou-onee-sama?" Kaede said, approaching Kikyou cautiously.  Kikyou raised her head to look at her "younger" sister.  "Do you know what the yuro-kyoufu is doing to Inuyasha?  Will you be able heal him?"

            For the first time, a ripple of emotion crossed Kikyou's face.  "He has been attacked with a very strong spell," said Kikyou, the faintest tinge of worry in her voice, "and the you-ki summoned by it is very pure.  I've tried reaching him, but his mind and soul are retreating even as the poison spreads through his body."

            "Is there anything we can do to help?" Kagome asked, coming forward and kneeling on the other side of Inuyasha, opposite the miko.  She removed the wet cloth from Inuyasha's forehead and brushed his seat-soaked bangs away from his face.

            "If he is to be drawn from this sleep," said Kikyou, still looking at Kaede, "it will take time and much spiritual power, and we do not have a lot of the former.  We must reach him before the yoru-kyoufu reaches his soul and damns him to eternal nightmare."

            Kagome's hand froze and she stared at Kikyou.  "Damns him?  What do you mean?  Is it going to kill him?"

            "His body will continue living as long as there is strength in it.  But the yoru-kyoufu will overtake his mind, bringing forth all of his worst nightmares and fears.  Under such attack, his soul will weaken and the yoru-kyoufu will feed on his horror and his despair, driving him farther and farther into Oblivion, until his soul is perverted into the same darkness.  He will cease to exist as a soul and become a being of Hell."  Kikyou's voice became hard, each word ringing like the leaden tone of a death knell.  For a fleeting moment, her eyes blazed with anger, perhaps at Naraku for finding such a way of stealing Inuyasha from her forever.

            "But how will we reach him?" Kagome asked weakly, trying to process everything she had just been told.

            Kikyou stared down at Inuyasha, as if absorbing his tortured features.  She took one of his hands in her own and held it gently.  "How much are you willing to risk for him?"

            "What?" Kagome blurted, surprised by both the softness of Kikyou's voice and her question.

            "You love him."  Was it imagination, or was there a slight ring of bitter regret in the dead voice?  "I do not know if your affections are returned, but that does not matter.  Are you willing to risk sharing his same fate to save him?"

            "I…" Kagome took a breath, not wanting to sound flippant, but at the same time, knowing that Kikyou was asking for an immediate answer, "What do you want me to do?"

            "Die," Kikyou answered simply, fixing Kagome with merciless eyes.

Narrator here.  I got yelled at for the last cliff-hanger, so I know a couple of people are going to jump down my throat for this one.  Maa, maa!  I told you, Kikyou is not going to be (totally) evil in this fic, although I am sure she is giving everyone a good case of the heebie-jeebies (I love that word…).  Okay, enough of my babbling; I have a couple of reviewers I want to thank:

**AWC:** Well, technically, he is not sick, just cursed really badly…wait, that didn't really reassure you, did it?

**Melanie:** Yeah, I like Kagome saving Inuyasha's butt every once in a while (_just_ because he is an uber-ly strong hanyou does not mean the damsel cannot do some rescuing of her own!).  It kinda balances their relationship, neh?

**Rika:** Please do not kill me for giving you another cliffhanger.  I promise to post the next chapter as soon as possible.

**KenYasha:** I am sure this cliff-hanger is doing wonders for your nervousness… 

**Vesta, The great:** Okay, okay, your eye can stop twitching now, I updated!  Oh wait; I gave you an even worse cliff-hanger this time.  Heh heh *^.^*  Please do not kill me, I will update soon!  *grovels*

**demon girl 2002:** Everyone is so worried that Inuyasha is sick!  Personally, I think he is too stubborn to die, don't you agree?  *~.^* 

**ishmaranara:** Yeah, I write coherently!  That is a great compliment, considering the fact I wrote most of this dead tired at 0000 hrs after three days straight with only 18 hours of sleep!

**Akiko:** Sorry, I did it again, but like I keep saying, I will update soon, so please do not hurt me! 

**Trunks Gal:** I cannot give you any reassurances or I would give away the plot, but, take a look at my other writing and it might give you a hint as to what direction I will take.  (Then again, Inuyasha would not really die, he would just become a minion of Hell…oro, I think I'll shut up now…)

So, there you have it!  Thank you, minna-san for giving me the encouragement (and the jabs with the cattle-prods -_-) to start writing this sequel.  Thank you also to everyone who went back and read "What Dreams May Come" and reviewed it!

**Inuyasha:** Feh!  What is it with you and always making me a weak, emotional pansy?  I would never let myself get attacked like that!

**Narrator:** Because I can and I'm evil, that's why.  How many times do I have to say it?

**Inuyasha:** -_- I hate authoresses.

**Narrator:** I could always pair Kagome with Kouga, you know…(runs away from Tetsusaiga and a homicidal Inuyasha)  Ack, I was just kidding!  Now put away that thing before you poke someone's eye out!


	3. Chapter Three: Descent

**Disclaimer:** It's so hard coming up with witty remarks for these things, but I have to do it or you all will think I am giving up on humor!  And the day I do that is the day I own Inuyasha and eat Brussel sprouts!

Okay, that sucked…just read the fic and leave me alone!

And do please review or I will feel neglected.  *~*

**Somnium et Umbra: Dream and Shadow**

**_Descent_**

            If the situation was not so very desperate, the expressions on everyone's faces after Kikyou's request would have been quite comical.

            "K-kikyou-sama…" Miroku finally managed.  By the fix of his jaw, Kagome could tell that he was becoming angry.  As it was, she herself was not very amused…

            "If that was supposed to be a joke," Kagome said coldly, glaring at Kikyou, "it wasn't very funny."

            Kikyou, nonplussed by the girl's anger, shook her head.  "I do not have time for jokes," she said.

            Kagome had a sudden urge to strangle the miko.  Instead, she fisted her hands in the wet cloth and took several deep breaths.  _'Don't let her play with you.  Let her have her fun, so long as she saves Inuyasha…'_  "Then why in the hell did you say something like that?" Kagome demanded.

            "I had to test your resolve," said Kikyou, "What you must do is very serious and potentially very costly."

            "I already said I would do whatever you needed me to do," Kagome retorted, every muscle in her body straining to keep her emotions under control, "You've already seen my mind once; wasn't that enough?"

            Kikyou arched an eyebrow and tilted her head, as if regarding Kagome with new interest; Kagome met her eyes without flinching, daring her to find a weakness.  "I suppose it was," Kikyou finally admitted.  Without further ceremony, she continued, "To save Inuyasha, your soul must leave your body and enter his.  In this, you come as close to death as you can without actually dying.  You must seek him out and break him free of the darkness of the yuro-kyoufu.  If you are strong enough, you will save him and the shadow will dissolve as if it had never existed.  If not…you will share his fate."

            Kagome felt her insides turn cold.  "H-how am I supposed to do something like that?" she whispered, "How am I supposed to find him?  Where do I begin?"

            "To ask such a thing of a girl untrained in the ways of a miko is too dangerous, Kikyou-onee-sama!" Kaede protested, "She doesn't know the first thing about projecting her aura or fighting a darkness as pure as the one that possesses Inuyasha!"

            "How else would I have heard her call for help?" Kikyou demurred, "We may share the same soul, but to seek me out and convey her message so clearly shows some mastery of projection.  She can do the same for Inuyasha, with our help, provided what she did before was not an accident."

            "I still don't like it," Sango interpolated, crossing her arms across her chest, "If Kagome's soul leaves her body, won't her body die?  And why can't you, with all your training and spiritual power, do the same thing?  Why do you need Kagome to reach Inuyasha?"

            Three very good questions, and everyone turned to Kikyou in anticipation.  Kikyou herself seemed slightly irritated that someone would be so suspicious, but she seemed regretful at the same time.  "I cannot leave this body," she answered, pointing to her chest, "or this shell of earth and bone will collapse into dust the moment my soul departs.  The witch's magic that keeps me bound to it is too fragile, and I must even depend on other souls to keep it alive.  I already reached out to Inuyasha as far as I dared." Kikyou looked down at her hands, her bangs veiling her eyes.  "Even that was not enough."

            Kagome was torn between anger, disgust, and sympathy.  Anger, because Kikyou had given up so easily.  Disgust, because she  had brought up the matter of the souls she stole to prolong her unnatural second life.  Sympathy, which became stronger as she gazed at Kikyou's bent shoulders and shadowed eyes, because the woman had admitted that she herself was not strong enough to save the soul of the one she had once loved.  _'She does love him, doesn't she?  I mean, she wants him to be with her forever, but…the way she tries to do it, betraying us and trying to drag Inuyasha down to Hell…she must be very lonely.'_  Kagome recalled the instant she had connected to Kikyou.  There had been coldness and bitterness there, but underneath, there was also a great sorrow; Kikyou had died a terrible death, believing the one she loved had killed her, and the fact that she was here now showed that at least some of that love still existed.  It was all so sad and so very…_ 'tragic…'_  Kagome felt her hands fist again, but this time, the anger was directed at Naraku, whose cruel greed had precipitated Kikyou's death and Inuyasha's imprisonment.

            "I'll go," said Kagome quietly, looking at Kikyou, "Just show me the way and I will bring Inuyasha back."

            "Kagome…!" blurted Sango and Miroku in unison.

            "Don't do it!" Shippo squeaked, "She doesn't like you!"

            "I can trust you, can't I?" Kagome asked, still looking at Kikyou, "What you said you would do, you will do it to get Inuyasha back?"

            "Of course," Kikyou answered, meeting Kagome's eyes, her former aura of complete serenity restored.  She looked over at Kaede.  "First, we need to find some holy ground…"

            "Here?  This is your idea of holy ground?" Sango asked, staring about with wide eyes, her hand on one of Kirara's massive shoulders.  Inuyasha was on the fire-cat's back, held in place by secure ropes and Miroku's steadying hand.  The monk, too, was discomfited by Kikyou's choice.

            "But this place…" Miroku said, "Kikyou-sama, surely a violated grave is the last place…"

            "You purified it after Urasue stole my bones, did you not?" Kikyou asked her sister as she drifted past the wide, shallow pit that had once been her own grave.  The shrine marker, which had been destroyed in the act of the sorceress's violation, had been replaced by another.

            "That I did," Kaede confirmed, trying not to sound as horrified as the rest of them felt, "But is this place truly the only one you can think of?"

            "Why not?" Kikyou replied, mounting the steps of the actual shrine.  She paused before the ornate shoji.  "It is the nearest holy ground for many miles.  As long as all traces of the violation have been removed, there will be no evil aura left to interfere with the spell.  And we do not need to worry about offended spirits; after all, it _is _my grave and," she cast a glance over her shoulder at the others, "I give my permission freely."

            _'If she has a sense of humor, it's about the most morbid I've ever heard,'_ Kagome thought, suppressing a shudder as she passed the empty grave to join Kikyou on the shrine steps.  The miko slid open the stiff shoji and entered the shrine.  Turning to shrug at her friends, Kagome followed her into the shadowed room.  Sango patted Kirara's shoulder, and the fire-cat followed Kagome, growling slightly as she carefully mounted the steps.

            "Kirara's not too enthusiastic about this, either," Miroku remarked.

            "Probably because she thinks Kikyou's creepy," Shippo piped, though he had the sense to keep his voice down as they entered the shrine, "She smells like death."

            "You don't really have to smell her to know _that_," Sango muttered, blinking her eyes to adjust them to the dim interior.  

The air was stale and cold, faintly scented with rotting wood.  Kagome suppressed the urge to shudder as the sepulchral atmosphere seemed to press its chill into her very bones.  She looked over at Kikyou, who was kneeling beside the squat altar at the back of the shrine, holding something over it.  Kagome heard a clicking noise, and a small flame seemed to leap from Kikyou's hands and alight on a miniature bronze brazier.

"We will need some dry wood," Kikyou said to no one in particular, "Small enough to be burned in this brazier."

"I'll get it," Sango volunteered.

"I'll go with you," said Shippo.  

Miroku was about to offer his assistance when Kaede said, "Houshi-sama, I will need you to untie Inuyasha while Kikyou-onee-sama and I set up the items for the ritual."  Miroku nodded and watched Sango and Shippo leave the shrine as though happy for the excuse.

"Do you have everything you need, Kaede-sama?" the monk asked the elderly miko as he untied Inuyasha.  Kagome, who was feeling particularly useless at that moment, went over to help.  Inuyasha's fever had gone down noticeably, but the pale, clammy condition of his skin did nothing to reassure Kagome.  She noticed that every muscle in his body was stiff and his jaws were clenched as if he was in extreme pain.  _'I have to stop this, somehow,'_ she thought as she mutely set down two layers of blankets at the foot of the altar for Inuyasha to lie on.

"The incense itself is practically the only thing that we need," Kaede was saying, picking up what appeared to be two pieces of grey chalk about as long as her thumb, "The real strength of the spell comes from the will and spiritual power of the miko performing it and the soul of the person who will separate themselves from their mortal body."  As she said this, she glanced over at Kagome and noted the resolve that shone clearly in the girl's eyes.  _'I hope Kikyou-onee-sama is right about Kagome.  I know the girl is strong, but she has never had to do anything like this before.  And it is so dangerous!'_

Miroku also glanced at Kagome as he carried Inuyasha over to the altar.  _'She's really going to go through with this,'_ he thought as he carefully laid the hanyou on the waiting blankets, _'I admire the depth of her love, but is it really so wise to trust Kikyou-sama?'_

"Will this be enough wood?" Sango asked, entering the shrine with an armload of small twigs and branches.  "It's started snowing again," she added, shaking snowflakes from her hair with a toss of her head.  Shippo, similarly burdened with kindling, sneezed and almost lost hold of his load.

"Shippo-chan, why don't you go back to Kaede's hut and start up a fire," Kagome suggested as she took the wood from Shippo, "I have some of your favorite candy in my bag, and you can have some while you wait for us."

"But I should stay here with you," Shippo protested, darting a look at Kikyou, "What if something goes wrong?"

"I'm sure it won't," Kagome replied, but Shippo shook his head firmly and crossed his arms, apparently determined to stay no matter how he felt.  At least, not without a good reason.

"I think Kirara still needs some rest and a warm room is the best thing for her," Sango said as the fire-cat, now back to miniature size, chirred and shivered, "Can you take care of her for me?"

"Well, if Kirara really needs my help…" Shippo began slowly.  The fire-cat stared at him with wide pink eyes and Sango nodded.  "All right," said the kitsune, sounding almost relieved.  "You'll come back safe, right?" he asked Kagome.

"I promise," said Kagome, giving him a hug.  Shippo clung to her very tightly as if it would be the last time he would be able to.

_'There's no way I cannot come back,'_ Kagome swore to herself, feeling tears sting her eyes, _'I can't let them down.'_  Shippo and Kirara left the shrine and Sango closed the shoji behind them.

"Let us begin," Kikyou intoned.  She indicated that Kagome was to approach her and lie down beside Inuyasha.  "I will ask you one more time, are you willing to do this for him, knowing the price if you fail?"

Kikyou was not testing her, Kagome knew.  "Hai," she affirmed, feeling her heart begin to thud in her chest.  She reached out for one of Inuyasha's hands and held it.  Immediately, her anxiety faded; she had faith in herself and in the bond between him and her.  "Hai," she said again, her voice strong and certain.  Kikyou stared down at her for a long moment before bowing slightly.

"May your soul prove strong enough to fulfill our prayers, may it find what you seek, may its brightness not be dimmed by darkness," Kikyou said, almost chanting as she placed one of the incense sticks into the brazier.  The fire leapt up and began burning hotter and hotter, the flame turning almost pure white.  A blue-tinged column of smoke began to curl up from the flame, increasing in volume with each passing moment until it seemed the entire shrine would be filled with it.  Miroku, sitting off to one side to stay out of the way, was surprised when a strong hand suddenly grasped his.  He glanced down and saw that it was Sango's.  He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze that said, "Don't worry, everything is all right," and prayed he was not lying.

The blue smoke, instead of dispersing as would normally be expected, coalesced until it became a thick, opaque cloud.  It hovered above the altar, waiting.  Kikyou reached out toward it, her face taut with intense concentration as she began chanting softly in a voice too soft for the words to be distinguished.  The cloud of smoke began to descend, pouring down on Kikyou, Kagome and Inuyasha like a suddenly released waterfall, obscuring them from sight.  Sango's hold on Miroku's hand tightened until he almost winced in pain, but he said nothing, too fascinated by the tableau before him.

Kagome bit back a sudden surge of panic as the smoke enveloped her.  Everything faded to a deep midnight blue, and it felt as though she was suspended in a cloud that smelled of heavy musk and the cloying scent of decay.  Only her hold on Inuyasha's hand kept her anchored to herself, to the real, solid word.

_"Do not resist…"_ Kikyou's voice, soft and urgent came to her, _"You must let yourself ascend the body…your soul must depart from this world…find him, find Inuyasha…"_

_'Inuyasha…where…how…?'_  Kagome's own thoughts came slowly, as if her consciousness was slowly sliding away from her control.  Indeed, she could feel the beat of her heart growing fainter, her body growing unbearably heavy and wearying, every breath coming at greater effort.  She heard Kikyou chanting, the miko's voice sounding as though she was speaking from the bottom of a deep pool.  Kagome could not understand the words, but they called to her somehow, urging her to…to what?  _'What am I doing…?'_

"She's not going to make it," Kagome muttered tensely, staring at the cloud as if her single eye could pierce the shroud, "Kagome's soul will not leave her body."

"What?" Sango gasped.

"Her will to survive is fighting the spell.  If she doesn't let go, no one will be able to save Inuyasha."

"We can't give up just yet," said Miroku fiercely under his breath, "Kagome-sama has come this far!"

_'I want to sleep…no…'_  The word blazed in her mind.  _'No…not yet…I have to…'_  She struggled, feeling as though she was fighting a strong current that was holding her back, holding her away from…  _'…Inuyasha…I have to find him…Inuyasha, I'm coming!'_  The current suddenly reversed itself and she was hurtled forward, a blue light blinding her before she was suddenly plunged into absolute darkness.

There was a long moment of silence when Kikyou abruptly halted her soft, intelligible chanting.  Sango made as though to rise, but Miroku and Kaede stopped her.  The smoke dissipated, vanishing in seconds and revealing Kikyou still kneeling as before in front of the altar, Kagome and Inuyasha lying beside each other in front of her.

_'Did something go wrong?'_ Miroku wondered, not releasing his hold on Sango.  He felt a pricking sensation at the base of his spine, warning him that something had changed.  Kikyou did not seem to notice his scrutiny as she reached out toward Inuyasha and Kagome's joined hands.  Inuyasha was as before, his breathing shallow and pained.  And Kagome…_ 'she's so still.  Can it be?  Kagome-sama…'_

Sango came to the same conclusion a split second after Miroku.  "Oh my god," she said, not wanting to believe it, "Kagome-chan…she's…"

"Dead," Kaede whispered.

"As I said before," Kikyou said as she disengaged Kagome's hand from Inuyasha, "this is as close to death as a mortal can get without dying first.  Whether or not she truly dies is up to her…"

_"Inuyasha…"_

_Kagome?  What are you doing here; I thought you weren't coming back until tomorrow…_

_"Inuyasha, I can't be with you anymore."_

_What?!  Why?  Kagome, what's the matter, what's wrong wi…_

_"Why didn't you protect me?  Why did you let him kill me?"_

_No, this isn't happening.  I haven't lost you yet, you're not her…this isn't happening…it **can't** be happening…_

_"Inuyasha, I wanted to be with you.  Did you not want me to?  Is that why you let me die?  I'm dead because of you, because you weren't there for me…"_

_Kagome, I swear, I never left you, I would never leave you!  This isn't happening, you can't be real, I would never…don't leave me!  Kagome, don't leave me like this!_

_"Good-bye Inuyasha.  I'm sorry I can't stay with you, but I have to go now.  You understand, right?"_

_Don't leave me!_

_"Sayonara…"_

_Kagome!_

Narrator here.  I am sorry to say this, but I am actually starting to like writing angst; the darker and more hopeless things are, the better it is for some odd reason…-_- Kami-sama, I have _got_ to stop reading depressing books (I have just finished _All Quiet on the Western Front_ for the second time)!  A lot of you are saying that I had better not kill Inuyasha or Kagome.  Sorry, but I cannot make any promises.

I will thank all my reviewers in the next chapter.  I am kinda in a rush to post this, as it is currently 0100 and I have a 0600 wakeup tomorrow…today…damn, I need sleep…


	4. Chapter 4: Searching

Thank you to everyone reviewing "What Dreams May Come"!  I'm beginning to think I will have to send out an e-mail so that everyone knows that this sequel exists…

**Disclaimer:** Still not with the owning of Inuyasha… (or proper English grammar)

**Somnium et Umbra: Dream and Shadow**

**_Searching_**

****

            "…the poor thing…"

            "…can't be helped."

            "…what are we supposed to do …?"

            "Sh, or he might wake up and hear you…"

Voices, faint and muffled, startled her awake.  _'Huh?  Where am I?'_  She blinked rapidly, trying to clear away the fogginess that had enveloped her senses.  It took her several moments to realize that she was lying on her back, staring up at a ceiling made of polished wood.  Kagome laid a heavy hand on her forehead and sat up dizzily; the simple movement almost made her black out and she had to close her eyes until the nausea faded.  The floor beneath her was wooden too and smelled faintly of cedar.

"…know what to do…"

"But it has already been decided that he will be banished…"

The voices were back again, louder and more distinct, but having a strange echoing quality, as though the speakers were at the far end of a long tunnel.  Kagome turned in the direction of the sound and saw only the white, black lacquer-lined squares of a shoji.  Grey-gold sunlight streamed through the rice paper, faintly illuminating the room she sat in.  Shadows obscured its dimensions.  Kagome could not shake a slight feeling of unease as she gazed about; it felt as though _something_ was watching her with unfriendly eyes.

"…he's only a child, though, he can't help that he was born…"

"It does not matter; if he stays, it will only remind the lord of her indiscretion.  He must leave or unfortunate things will happen, you know."

_'What is this place?'_ Kagome wondered, _'Where…?'_

A sudden soft sound, like a stifled gasp, made her whirl around in surprise.  Kagome blinked again, but this time in shock.  _'Inuyasha?  But… how?'_

Inuyasha stared right at her…no, _through_ her, Kagome amended.  His golden-amber eyes were fixed on the shoji, his pointed ears swiveled toward it as he listened intently.

_'He doesn't see me.'_  Kagome crawled forward slowly until she was practically nose-to-nose with Inuyasha.  He still gave no sign of seeing her, not even when she waved her hand in front of his face.  _'Weird,'_ was all Kagome could think.  She then took a closer look at the hanyou, still trying to determine why Inuyasha would not acknowledge her.  _'Wait a minute…'_  Her eyes must be playing tricks on her…  _'He looks…younger.  He doesn't look older than Souta.'_  Kagome frowned, but there was no denying it; the Inuyasha before her could not be more than eight years old.  His hands were fisted in the cloth of a futon that was still draped over his legs, and, judging by the ruffled appearance of his hair, he looked like he had just woken up.

_'This is…a memory, I must be in one of Inuyasha's memories,'_ Kagome guessed, _'But I thought the yuro-kyoufu was supposed to attack his dreams.  Why am I here?  Shouldn't I be…?'_

"It is his fault that she died, after all."

The words sounded in her ear as clearly as though the speaker was talking to her.  Kagome started and almost turned back to the shoji.

A choked sob halted her.  The child-Inuyasha had curled into a fetal position, his eyes and ears still riveted on the shoji that concealed the speakers but was no barrier to their cruel words.

"The burden was too much for her.  She died because she could no longer stand the shame."

"Well then, I suppose it _is _better that he leaves after all."

_'Oh no…'_  Kagome felt her heart suddenly clench painfully and she instinctively placed her hand over her chest.  _'This is when Inuyasha lost his mother…and they blamed him for it!'_  Anger sprang up to mingle with her grief.  _'How could they do that?  It wasn't his fault!  He was only a child, he had nothing to do with it!  And speaking like this when he can hear every word they say…what was he supposed to think?!'_

"'kaa-san, 'kaa-san!"  Inuyasha had clamped his hands over his ears and his eyes were tightly shut against the tears that began to fall from them.  He tried to stifle his cries, but his grief could not be held back by mere will.  Sobs wracked his small body and tears flooded over his cheeks.

Kagome reached for him, wanting to hold him, to comfort him.  Her hand passed right through his form as though she was nothing but a shadow.  Grief, loss, guilt and fear flooded through her at the contact and she pulled back, overwhelmed by the emotions that were not her own.

"Come back, 'kaa-san, I'm sorry!  I'm sorry I made you leave!  I don't…want…to be alone…Please come back!"

"Inuyasha," Kagome breathed, balling her hands into fists and choking back on the tears that stung her eyes, "You're not alone, I'm here!  Can't you hear me?  Don't listen to them, you were only a little boy, you can't be blamed for it!"  _'I can't even touch him!  How can I help him if doesn't even know I'm here?'_

"It does not matter if he survives; it would be better if he dies."  The cold cruel words shook Kagome.  Inuyasha let out another painful moan, giving her all the encouragement she needed.  She rose, determined to face the person who would so cruelly judge and sentence an innocent child.

"Shut up!" she yelled, "Just shut up!  He's only a child!  You can't say it was his fault!"  Her protests rang in her ears as though something was throwing them back at her in mocking playfulness.  _'What is going on?'_  Kagome reached out to fling open the shoji, only to have the rice paper dissolve like smoke beneath her fingertips.  

The sunlit courtyard was paved with precisely carved slabs of granite.  There were people there, too, but their faces were obscured by shadows.  Kagome felt the hair on the back of her neck rise; there was no way the shadows were natural.  All sound was distant and muffled and the air was very still, as though she was watching everything through thick glass.

            The shadowed people were gathered around a wooden platform that supported a small square tent made of some translucent white material.  There must have been a breeze that Kagome could not feel, for the sides of the tent drifted and swayed, affording her half-glimpses of what was inside.  Kagome felt a sudden irresistible curiosity to see, but hesitated.  Wasn't there something she was forgetting?

           "Inuyasha!" she gasped and spun on her heel to look back.  She came nose-to-hinge with an enormous wooden gate.  There was no sign of the room she had just left or Inuyasha.  _'This is getting really creepy,'_ was all she could think, backing up several steps.  Had she lost him already?  "But then, was that really him I saw?" she wondered out loud, "This is a memory, right?  Maybe the real Inuyasha is somewhere in a nightmare and I just can't find him because the yoru-kyoufu is trying to keep me away."  It did not take the cold twinge at the base of her spine to tell her her guesses were not too far off the mark.  _'How am I supposed to find him, then?'_

            The sudden, solemn _'pang!'_ of a gong drew her attention back to the strange gathering.  Hesitantly, she approached, wending her way through the still, silent forms of the crowd.  She held her breath, as though such a thing would prevent her being seen when she already knew she was as an invisible specter to them.

            Finally, she reached the innermost ring of people and approached the platform with wary anticipation.  She had but to lift the white gauze…

            _'I think I know this place…'_ he thought in amazement.  How had he gotten here?  He touched a trembling hand to his brow.  _'Is it over?  Are those dreams finally over?  Or were they all real?'_  He was so very tired, tired of fighting, tired of not knowing whether to trust his instincts, for they seemed to play him false at every turn.  When had he stopped living by them, by his will to survive?  Had he not always been alone?  Yes, he had always been alone, but things were different now…_ 'weren't they?'_

            Kagome raised the veil and peered into the dim interior.  It was so small, more like a closet, or maybe…_a coffin_…

            With a shriek, Kagome jumped back from the ghastly tent.  The woman inside, lying in repose on a bier of wooden slats, had been so pale, so very pale, her skin stretched tight on sharp cheeks bones, like she had died of some horrible, wasting death.  Who…?

            "'kaa-san!"  The same cry, the same voice…Kagome knew even as she turned to face him.

           "No!" the child-Inuyasha shrieked, thrashing helplessly in the grip of the face person who held him tightly, "Let me go!  I want to go with her!  Let me go!"

            "Let me go!"

            His ears pricked at the sound of the anguished cry.  _'I remember this…this memory, this dream…'_  He wanted so much to turn away, to shut out his own screams, to keep him from seeing…_ 'Anything but this, please…'_  But his body did not obey his will.  Instead, he moved forward, through the shades of his past, nearing the macabre white structure that was the center of this tableaux.

            _'Stop this…'_

            Blood-red and bright orange lames leapt up, hungrily devouring the dry wood…

            _'Don't let this happen…'_

            The butter-fly delicate cloth wavered frantically as it turned black…

            _'Not again, not this…'_

            And was consumed.

            **_"NO!!"_**

            "Inuyasha!" Kagome screamed as she saw the child wrench painfully from the grip of the one who held him and run toward the building inferno.  She dove at him, trying to knock him off his feet…and passed through him, landing painfully on her arm.  "No, stop!" she screamed helplessly as she picked herself up, her hand outstretched to the small figure.  She saw the child stop and hope leapt in her chest.  Had he heard her?

            "I coming!" the child screamed, and ran forward…

            His features contorted in pain as he watched himself charge into those hungry flames.  In his true memory, he knew that someone had taken him back from the flames before they could consume him, but in this dream, no one cared to save him.  He would be devoured by the flames as they watched, passively listening to his screams.  Or had it been the other way around?  He could not be so sure anymore…  _'Why this?__  Why didn't anyone stop me?  Why didn't anyone try to keep me from seeing this?  Did they want me to go insane?  Did they want to see me scream and kill myself?  Did they enjoy my suffering?  I had already lost the only one who loved me in the world, who gave a damn whether I lived or died.  I know it was my fault…'_  Anger surged through him even as he thrust away the guilt and sorrow.  He could not bear the pain anymore; something had to give way.

            "Bastards!" he roared, his claws slicing through those nearest to him, "Is this what you wanted?  To see me destroy myself?  I'll take all of you to hell with me!"

            Kagome's head jerked up at the sound of the anguished howl, so different and yet so very like the wail of the child who had cast himself into the flames.  Instinct goaded her to her feet and she ran to the source of the cry.

            They fell before him, torn by his unforgiving claws.  But they did not scream, they did not bleed, they gave no indication of having even the smallest fraction of the suffering that raged in him.  Hatred thrummed in his head, pulling him farther and farther into bloodlust, dragging him deeper into the dark miasma in his soul that waited to claim him…

            "Inuyasha!" Kagome screamed, knowing that she had found him at last.  Immediately, she drew back in horror.  Inuyasha had gone berserk, screaming and slashing at the blank-faced crowd.  His claws flashed crimson in the lurid gleam of the funeral pyre, as though stained with the blood of those he slew.  But that was wrong, wasn't it?  _'They're only dream shadows,'_ Kagome told herself as the decapitated head of one of them rolled to a stop at her feet.  Fighting down the bile that rose in her throat, she began walking toward Inuyasha.  _'They're not really people, he's not really killing them, it's only an illusion…'_

            Kagome was about to reach her hand out to touch him when she noticed the darkness.  It clung to his body like a stain of blood and it was spreading.  Eyes widening, Kagome saw that the dream-shadows were the source of the stain, that with each one Inuyasha "slew," the stain grew, until it seemed that it would cover him entirely.

            "Yoru-kyoufu," Kagome breathed, finally recognizing the deceitful enemy that was feeding on Inuyasha and would soon claim him.  "You have to stop this!" she screamed, and made a grab for his upraised arm, "Please, Inuyasha, you have to…!"

            The darkness lashed out at her, flowing from Inuyasha into her body like the icy-fire bite of a whip.  Kagome cried out in pain and jerked her hands away.  Inuyasha continued his massacre heedless of her effort and the darkness continued to spread.  The courtyard, the bodies of the slain, even the fire were being devoured by it, until it claimed every aspect of this dream, this memory.  _'Are you just going to stand by and let this happen?'_

            "Leave him alone!" she screamed at it, grabbing hold of Inuyasha and ignoring the waves of pain the yoru-kyoufu sent through her, "I won't let you have him!"

            The darkness focused its malevolent will on her, lashing at her with fear and anguish, trying to make her release her hold of its prey.  Hatred seethed through her like acid and terrible images of blood and darkness filled her vision.  She could feel her hold weakening.  _'No, not yet…I have to hold on…I have to get him to hear me…I have to free him from this…'_

            It was her last thought before the darkness pulled him from her grasp and spiraled her down further into the black depths.

            "She has failed in her first attempt," Kikyou said neutrally.

            "What?" Sango and Miroku demanded at the same time.

            "What is happening to them?" Miroku continued, unconsciously getting up into a crouch, his staff held at ready.

            Kikyou shook her head slightly.  "I cannot know for certain," she said, "but their souls had drawn close, but now they have become fainter.  She has found him, but the yoru-kyoufu is dragging them further into the darkness.  It will become harder for them to escape unless the girl grows a stronger will to fight."

            "Kagome loves him," Sango snapped, glaring at Kikyou for so disparaging her friend, "She won't let him be taken."

            "I only hope your trust in this love will not be in vain," Kikyou said simply.

Kagome found herself staring up at the open sky that was tinted with the muted flame colors of the sunset.  Groggily, she got to her feet, swaying slightly as she tried to orient herself.  She was alone.

"Oh, God…" she moaned, "I lost him…I wasn't strong enough to hold onto him…"  _'No!'_ she screamed at herself as her heart seemed to stop, _'Giving up is just what the yoru-kyoufu wants!  Find Inuyasha again, and do whatever it takes to stop him!  The yoru-kyoufu plays on his fears and shows him illusions.  You have to be there to make him see that it is not true!'_

"But he doesn't even know I'm here," she whispered, "I can't help him if he can't even here me."

_'Find a way then!  They're all depending on you to get him back.  If you loved him enough to save his life, your love ought to be strong enough to save his soul, or are you just going to be a weak crybaby and lose him?'_

'I'm not a crybaby!" she retorted loudly, anger restoring some of her courage and determination.  With renewed resolve, Kagome looked about, wanting to at least know where she was before going to find Inuyasha.

"Wait a minute…this is the forest near the Bone-Eater's Well!" she exclaimed, recognizing the trees in the deepening twilight.  There was no snow and it looked very much like the first night she had fled to into it to escape the centipede youkai.  The shadows here were darker, though.  She shuddered, knowing now what they were.  But for the time being, it seemed, the yoru-kyoufu was content to wait, and watch.

A sudden crashing in the brush to her right drew her attention, and she stepped forward, ready to defend herself.  Instead of the expected attack, however…

"Inuyasha!" Kagome exclaimed in surprise.  She took another step forward, glad that her search had come to her.  Something made her stop short.  _'Wait…he's changed again.'_  Inuyasha stood before her as she remembered, no trace of the vulnerable child or grief-maddened berserker apparent in his features as he scanned the forest.  _'He's changed, the dream's changed, but he still doesn't see me,'_ Kagome told herself, _'This is getting frustrating.'  _She shook her head, and wondered what she could do if the hanyou continued to be unaware of her presence.  _'I have to find some way of stopping this nightmare before the yoru-kyoufu can claim him again.'_

Inuyasha seemed on guard and his golden eyes roved over the veiled recesses of the forest.  Kagome wondered what could have him so on edge when she noticed a sudden gleam of rosy light pierce through his right fist.  _'Is that what I think it is?'_  Kagome reached down to take Inuyasha's hand, forgetting that such a thing was impossible.  The hanyou solved the problem for her by opening his hand to covetously examine what he held.

_'The Shikon no Tama!'_  The jewel, inexplicably whole and radiating its power, lay in Inuyasha's palm, and Kagome had to tell herself that what she saw was only a dream, that the look of malicious glee in Inuyasha's eyes was part of his imaginings, that the blood that stained his hands was not real…

"Inuyasha!"

Kagome and Inuyasha both froze at the shout.  A figure limned by pale silver luminescence stepped from the shadows, a bow and knocked arrow pointing straight at Inuyasha's heart.

_'She's here too?'_

"Kikyou…" Inuyasha spoke.  Kagome blinked.  He did not sound surprised to see the miko, only…ashamed.  As though he had been found in the act of committing an enormous crime.

"Inuyasha, you deserve to be sealed in Hell forever," Kikyou hissed, her soul stealers winding about her, silent attendants to their mistress.

"Perhaps," Inuyasha said resignedly, looking down at the Shikon no Tama, "But before you do that…" he clenched the jewel in his fist and stared at Kikyou, "…why don't you come with me, like you always wanted?"

_'Inuyasha?!'_  The twinge of betrayal that tore through Kagome was very real, but she forced it away.  _'He doesn't know what he's saying…right?'_

Kikyou merely shrugged.  "Hell can wait for me," she said, "There is something I want from that jewel, and I won't let you defile it further by becoming a full youkai."

"Kikyou!" Kagome exclaimed, shocked out of her doubt by the incredibly cavalier attitude of the miko.

"You see," Kikyou continued, not hearing Kagome, "the Shikon no Tama is so much more than a source of power for youkai.  In the right hands, it can do so many things more…such as restoring life."

"What are you saying?" Inuyasha demanded.

"If I could truly live once more, maybe I could put our past behind me," replied Kikyou, "It's obvious you don't love me any more.  Why should I continue to even hate you?  You're not worth it."

"Kikyou, what are you saying?" Kagome cried, walking up to the miko, "You heard me ask for your help, and you came, if only to save Inuyasha's soul!  How can you say something like that?"  _'__Is everyone going insane?'_

"And what hands would restore your life?" Inuyasha asked sullenly.

"He is, after all the most powerful being alive today," Kikyou said, as though she had already answered the question, "With the Shikon no Tama, he will happily give me back my life, for he has wanted me for so long."

"You wouldn't!"  Kagome was not quite sure which of them had said it, but disgust and betrayal surged through her as she stared at Kikyou in disbelief.  "Naraku will only use the Shikon no Tama for evil!" she yelled, "You know that!  I thought it was part of your plan to defeat Naraku when you took that shard from me!  Now you're going back on what you said?  You're going to help the thing that killed you and caused you to hate Inuyasha?!  You're betraying him worse than any betrayal he could imagine!"  Kagome tried to wrench the bow from Kikyou's hands.

"Good-bye, Inuyasha," the miko said, cold and unforgiving.

The arrow flew from the bow and struck true.

"_INUYASHA!!!_"

The hanyou screamed in pain as the arrow's divine power coursed through his body.  He glared at Kikyou, who watched him with detached interest, waiting for him to die so she could take the jewel from his lifeless fingers.  "Bitch," he snarled, "I thought you betrayed me once before.  Maybe I was right in killing you."

"You'll have time to think about that,' Kikyou responded coolly, "Now die."

"Like hell I will!" Inuyasha screamed.  He tried to yank the arrow out of his body, but a barrier threw back his hand.  Kagome moved forward to help, but froze when she saw Inuyasha's eyes.  They were so full of anger and hatred, she thought he was already possessed by the hellish darkness that was now bearing down them in anticipation.

"No, Inuyasha, don't do it!" she screamed even as Inuyasha clapped his right hand to his mouth…and swallowed the Shikon no Tama.

"NO!" Kikyou screeched in anger.

Inuyasha reached up and jerked her arrow from his body and flung it aside like it was an irritating splinter.  His eyes, blood-red split by vertical slash of blue, narrowed, and he gathered himself.

_'He's a full youkai…oh God, Inuyasha, no, don't!  Don't give into it!'_  "Stop!" Kagome screamed as Inuyasha launched himself at Kikyou, a full-throated roar issuing from his lips in an earth-shaking tumult.  Kikyou tried to draw back, but there was no way that she could avoid Inuyasha's terrible claws.

A piercing shriek echoed through the shadowed forest.

Inuyasha crouched over Kikyou's body, panting in exertion.  Kagome took one trembling step toward him, then stopped.  _'Why?  Inuyasha, you really wouldn't…?'_  Though her mind was in shock, a small part of her fiercely denied that such a deed could be committed by the one she loved.  _'This is a dream,'_ she had to remind herself as she stared at Inuyasha, _'The yoru-kyoufu feeds on his worst nightmares and shows him his worst fears.'_  She thought back to the first memory… _'It showed him his weakness, his guilt, his worst loss…and now, it shows him betrayal by one he loved, the worst kind of betrayal.'_

The body of Kikyou dissolved at Inuyasha's feet, the bits of grave soil and bone whirling away in a hissing breeze. Inuyasha suddenly stood and stared down at his hands.  They were coated in blood and dust.  "Ki…Kikyou?" he whispered, his voice full of disbelief.  He clutched at his head and stumbled away from the place where the corpse had lain.  Kagome approached him and gazed into his face.  It was twisted in horror and shock.  "What have I done?" he muttered to himself, "What have I done?"

_'And now, it shows him the depth of his crime,'_ Kagome told herself, stunned by the abrupt change in Inuyasha's manner and her own ability to analyze the situation in such a detached manner.  _'The yoru-kyoufu manipulates his emotion and shows him the darkness in his soul as though it is the only thing he is.'_

"Why is it they all die because of me?!" Inuyasha screamed, "It's all my fault that they're taken from me, that they die!"

"No, Inuyasha, don't say that!" Kagome protested, "It's not real!  The yoru-kyoufu is only showing you this!  It's all an illusion!  Don't believe it!"  _'His greatest fear is that he will lose the ones he loves because of who he is!'_  "Inuyasha, listen to me, you have to hear me!  The yoru-kyoufu is…"

"Inuyasha…"

"Kagome?"  Inuyasha whirled.  His frenzied eyes widened as he gazed at her, at the blood that stained her white blouse, at the mask-like fix of her face.  "Kagome…?"

"Inuyasha, why did you let him kill me?"  Her voice was accusing, her eyes hazed by death.

"What?"

"No, Inuyasha, don't listen to her!" Kagome shouted, desperately placing herself between him and the thing that had taken her form and perverted it for its own ends, "She's not real!  I am!  I'm right here!"

"I've only come to say goodbye," said Kagome dully, "I will never see you again."

"No, wait!" Inuyasha shouted as Kagome turned from him.  He would run after her, he had to!  She was the only one who could make sense of all this…

"No, Inuyasha!  She's not…!" Kagome screamed as Inuyasha sprinted through her and into the darkness.

"Kagome!  Wait!"

Surprisingly, she halted, turning to meet him.  "Why do you keep doing this?" she asked him as he drew beside her, panting from the exertion.  '_When did Kagome ever learn to run so fast?'_

"I can't…believe…" he gasped, then took a deep breath, "I can't believe what you said, that you…when did it happen?  Why can't I remember anything?"

"Anything?"  She sounded so bitter, so cold, and her eyes were so hard…not unlike Kikyou.  Inuyasha suppressed the urge to recoil from her, telling himself that he had to trust one person in this madness.  "You really don't remember, do you?" she asked, seeming to soften a little.

"All I know is…I feel like I'm watching one of my dreams…my nightmares," Inuyasha told her, watching for her reaction, "It's like I've been living in a place that's not real, but it is real to me.  I'm reliving all my dreams, I think.  I don't know how it happened, or why, but now you're here.  And I…I killed her…I killed Kikyou with my own hands.  I didn't mean to, but...I just don't know what's real and what's just in my mind.  I think I'm going crazy.  Kagome, tell me what's going on?  What's happening?"

Kagome closed her eyes and slowly nodded.  When she opened them again, Inuyasha was taken aback by the depth of sorrow that shadowed them.  "Perhaps this is the best way," she murmured, "Oh Inuyasha, it was a terrible thing; you were so certain we would win, that you would defeat Naraku once and for all.  You were so confident of your strength that we followed you without question.  There was no way that I…we could let you face him alone.  Maybe…maybe it was partly our fault that we…all of us…"

"Kagome, what are you saying?" Inuyasha asked, a sudden coldness spreading through his limbs.  He reached for her hands, to pull her closer; they were colder than stone, cold as ice, cold like…_death.  _ "Everyone," Kagome said, reaching for his face with both hands, "Everyone, Inuyasha…they're all dead.  You weren't strong enough to defeat Naraku, and we all died because of you."

_'Where is he?  I'm not giving up, I can't give up!  I can make him hear me!  I have to show him that this is all a lie!'_  Kagome sped through the blackness, so intent on catching the hanyou that she ignored the shadow that dogged her every movement…

"It's no use, he's too strong!"

"We're not giving up yet!  Inuyasha, you can break through the barrier!  Use Tetsusaiga and finish him!"

His hand grasped the hilt of his sword, even as his mind protested that he should not leave his comrades behind, that he would regret leaving this fight up to them.  "Right," he heard himself say and he turned away, all his attention focused on the one being he hated most in the world.  "Naraku, you die today!"

Though he could not see him through the lurid red gleam of the magical barrier, Inuyasha felt rather than heard the laughing reply: "Try and kill me, halfling!"

Inuyasha charged, or rather, was taken along as his body, propelled by rage and the thirst for revenge threw itself at the barrier.  Tetsusaiga shattered the barrier in a cacophony of shrieking wind and the crackle of black lighting; it sounded and felt as though the entire world had been split asunder.

"Naraku!" Inuyasha screamed, but he sensed that something was wrong, that everything was some horrible trick…

"The victory is…mine!"  The darkness had Naraku's voice, but its power was infinitely greater.  Inuyasha felt his body freeze, held in place by the terror of coming face-to-face with the purest form of evil.  His mind screamed, warning him to attack, to drive Tetsusaiga through the thing, even if it meant his death, for if he did not…

"Inuyasha!"

_'RUN!!  GET OUT OF HERE BEFORE IT…!!!"_

The darkness flung itself at him and Inuyasha instinctively brought Tetsusaiga in front of his face, somehow knowing that its magic would protect him, at least for a little while.   Even as the darkness, more poisonous than any you-ki Naraku could ever hope to conjure, whipped around him, Inuyasha realized his mistake.  His friends had no protection…

There was an unearthly roar, almost immediately snuffed out as soon as it had begun; Inuyasha did not have to turn to know that Kirara had been the first to meet the darkness.  Sango's cry for her faithful companion was cut off as she too was enveloped and extinguished.

"Sango!"  Miroku must have used his spiritual power to momentarily ward off the darkness in his vain effort to reach Sango's side.  His death scream jerked Inuyasha out of his paralysis, and he turned, Tetsusaiga's fierce, blood-red glow cutting through the shadow as it had cut through the barrier.  He had to get to them, had to get to _her_, before the darkness took everything from him…

"No!  Shippo!" he heard Kagome wail.  She was so close, if he could just reach her before…

Blue and gold radiance sundered the darkness, and for an instant, he saw her, untouched by the miasma.  She was reaching for him, blood streaked on her pale face, her eyes wide with desperation, begging for him to save her.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha screamed, charging forward, "Hold on!  Just a little longer!"

"Inu…"  Suddenly, her eyes widened and her body spasmed violently.  She coughed, bringing her hand to her mouth.  Dark blood spilled out from between her fingers, and she stared at it as if she did not know what it was.

"Kagome!"

She fell to her knees, the blue-gold light collapsing around her, the darkness rushing in.

"No!" Inuyasha howled, throwing aside Tetsusaiga so he could pull her away from that terrible shadow.  Her bloodied hand reached out to him even as the light in her eyes darkened.  He clasped it to him, but she was already fading, wasting away under the indomitable evil.

"I'm sorry…" she whispered.  And then, she was gone…

Narrator here.  Good God, talk about depressing.  I am terribly sorry that this chapter took so long to get out, but I had to rewrite it almost five times.  And then finals came up and yadda yadda yadda…

To my reviewers:

**Chibi Washu: **Maa, maa, here is the next chapter.  I do have a rather irritating habit of leaving you with cliffhangers, don't I?  And yes, it would be cruel to have Inuyasha lose two loves in one lifetime, but it makes for _terrific_ angst!  *~.^*

**Rika: **Here's a tissue, honey…

**Anime Fan: **Yes!  Another person who likes the damsel-saving-the-hero stories!

**Trunks Gal: **Like I said, she's working on it.  Don't worry, I won't draw it out _too_ much…

**Dansama****: **Ummm…well, I did update…that's good enough, right? 

**Lil**** Washu:** Hey, do you have a twin or something?  Eh heh, okay, bad joke…I'm glad you're so enthusiastic about the story.  And yes, I am embarrassed for not having updated in a timely manner…

**IsleofSolitude****:** This might be a bad time to mention this, but I personally think I suck a WAFF.  Argh, I don't need the pressure!

Well, thank you so much for reviewing, minna-san!  I keep getting reviews on "What Dreams May Come," begging for a sequel, and I want to yell, "What do you think _this _is!?"  -_-  Maybe I should just try telepathy…

**Inuyasha: **You already have a hard enough time with your own mind, woman!  Why else do you think you're having so much trouble with this story?

**Kagome: **You're not really going to kill us, are you?  So many of your reviewers will be upset if you do…*sotto voce to reviewers* Keep telling her not to kill us!  It's probably the only thing that might save our butts.

**Narrator: **Honey, me killing you two is like me pairing you with Kouga.

**Kagome: **But you said you were going to do that.

**Narrator: **Oh yeah…  *runs away from PO'ed and _very_ jealous Inuyasha*  Oi, can't you take a joke?!?

**Inuyasha: NO!!!**


	5. Chapter 5: Conversation

**Somnium et Umbra: Dream and Shadow**

**_Conversation_**

He was alone in the darkness, completely alone.  The shadows pressed against him, chilling his bones to the marrow and nothing he could do would keep them back any longer.  He was tired of fighting, so very tired.  What good came of it anyway?  _'Where are you?  I haven't lost you just yet, right?  I need you here with me…'_

And suddenly, she was there before him, an expression of deep sorrow on her face that was completely wrong for her.  She put a hand on his shoulder and he could feel the lifelessness her touch imparted in depths of his soul.

"You're not really here, are you?" he asked her softly, reaching for her hand, "You were telling the truth; because of me, you died.  Because I put you in danger and defended myself, you and everyone else died.  I saved my own worthless life and let you die."

She bowed her head, hiding her death-dulled eyes beneath her bangs.  "I told you before, Inuyasha," she said, "We can't together now.  Why do you keep calling for me, insisting that I stay?  Do you really want to put yourself through all this pain?"

"I'm sorry," Inuyasha apologized, his hand drifting toward her midnight hair that still shone as it had in life.  "I can't help it.  It took so long for us…when we finally knew…and I failed you again."

"Truth is painful, isn't it?" she replied somewhat bitterly.  Her eyes met his again, ghostly tears frosting her lashes.  "I wanted so much for us to be together.  I guess this is as much as we'll ever have."

"It is what I deserve," Inuyasha said, and she did not say anything to disagree.  _'I failed to protect Kikyou…no, I _killed_ her with my own hands, and now I've failed to protect the woman who was willing to do anything for me, the woman I would have died for.  She died for me instead, and this is how it must be…'_

"Perhaps I could come with you.  It's not like I have anything to hold me here."

Kagome smiled for the first time.  "I would like that very much, my love…"

            Kagome's breath billowed out of her mouth in clouds of steam as she ran, weaving in and out of the tree trunks that seemed to go on forever.  _'Am I going in circles?  I could swear that I've almost tripped over that same damned root three times now!'_  Almost spitefully, her right heel turned on a loose stone and a dart of pain shot up her leg as she fell heavily on her hands and knees.

            "Itai!" she yelped.  She felt the tears well up in her eyes, and she almost gave into the urge to cry.  It was hopeless; there was no way she could find Inuyasha in this trackless forest, and even if she did, how would she save him if he did not even know she was there?  The yoru-kyoufu would drag his soul into Hell and she would be left all alone.  She was just not strong enough for this.  _'Kikyou was right.  I'm not experienced in this sort of thing.  And now, because of my stupid pride, Inuyasha has no chance, and I'll probably end up losing my soul as well.  That was the price, wasn't it?  Why did I even think I was strong enough for this?  Inuyasha and the others…they're always the strong ones.  I'm always the one who has to be rescued.  I'm no good, except being a Shikon detector, and even then…'_

            She felt like she was spinning farther and farther down a dark spiral; it would so easy to just let it all go.  Better just to give in now and spare herself the trouble.  It was not worth the effort.  She was going to lose anyway.  The darkness was too strong, she was too weak.  It was better just to forget Inuyasha and everyone else and let herself give in…

            "Nice try," she whispered.  She forced her body to stand, ignoring the pain in her leg.  "Nice try," she said again, her voice stronger, more defiant.  She glared at the shadowed trees and crossed her arms across her chest.  "You almost had me there," she told the listening darkness, "You almost made me give up.  But you made a mistake.  There's no way I'm going to forget, not my friends, not Inuyasha.  If you're done jerking me around now, stop hiding him.  I want him back."

            Dead silence followed her declaration and Kagome had to consciously relax her body and calm herself.  She knew now how the yoru-kyoufu claimed its victims; she had seen how it was claiming Inuyasha.  Because she was a soul as yet apart from it, it could only whisper fear and doubt to her.  But only if she listened, only if she was afraid, only if she doubted.  _'I'm too close now to lose!'_

            "I'm waiting!" she barked, surprising herself.  The shadows seem to shrink back from her anger.  Kagome grinned.  _'If my best weapon against this thing is bitchiness, I have no problem using it.'_  "You're just smoke and mirrors, and mirrors are fragile," she said in low voice, couched with threat, "I wonder what would happen if I tried to tear you apart…I can be an impatient person, you know…"

            There was another, almost palpable, hesitation, before the shadowed forest blurred, the forms of the trees running together like ink when water has been thrown upon it.  Kagome felt a bitter cold breeze drift over her, caressing her exposed skin and running fingers of chill through her hair, as if blindly seeking a point of weakness.  It became stronger as the forest began to fade rapidly, till it seemed she was in the heart of a violent winter gale.  Kagome had to force her mind away from the remembered terror of the blizzard, knowing that the yoru-kyoufu was playing another game.  Defiantly, she walked into the driving wind, her eyes wide open and her fists clenched at her sides.

            The wind stopped immediately and the silence made Kagome's ears pop.  Instead of the forest illusion, she was surrounded by night blacker than the spaces between the stars.  Kagome almost lost her nerve as she stared into infinity, but she grimly set her jaw and continued walking forward.  Whatever it was she was walking on or whether she was even moving did not enter her mind.  The only thought driving her now was to find Inuyasha.

            "She is far gone now," Kikyou intoned, "She willingly goes deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness to find him."

            "Isn't that a good thing?' Sango blurted.  She immediately flushed when all the eyes in the room turned on her.  "It means she's getting closer to him, right?"

            "Perhaps," Kikyou answered stoically, "Perhaps not.  The yoru-kyoufu does not willingly give up its prey and she must have a very strong will to face it directly."

            "What about Inuyasha?" Miroku asked, "He's still fighting it.  He has to be or there wouldn't be any hope for either of them."

            "He grows weaker by the moment," said Kikyou, "He has lasted a long time, but inevitably, all that is flesh and warmth succumbs to the cold darkness."

            "That had better be something you're quoting," Sango half-threatened, "If you thought there was no hope in the beginning, why did you even agree to help Kagome?  It's as if you only did this to…"  Sango's eyes went wide and she could not finish her sentence.

            "Are you really so ready to doubt my intentions?" Kikyou said, meeting Sango's eyes unflinchingly, "There is a chance she will succeed.  There is a chance she will not.  It is not my business to hope for her or Inuyasha, not when hope is something I no longer have.  Those who have died know only too well what a mockery hope is."

            Kagome was almost running now.  She had no idea where she was going, but she sensed that Inuyasha was close.  She could almost feel his warmth, his presence coursed through her veins, gave her the strength to keep going.  She charged through the last barrier almost without realizing it.

            "So you found your way after all."

            Kagome pulled up short, thinking for an insane moment that she had spoken those words to herself.

            "You are annoyingly stubborn, you realize that?"

            Not ten paces from her was a mirror, its perfect surface reflecting her every feature despite the shadows.  But something was wrong with its eyes…Kagome stepped toward it.

            The reflection did not move.

            "You!" Kagome exclaimed, realizing what she was seeing.

            "No…us," the reflection replied, grinning sardonically.  It voice was a perfect match for hers, except it was totally devoid of warmth.  Kagome shuddered.  _'Not even Kikyou sounds like that…'_

            "Where is he?" she demanded, walking forward determinably, yet wary if the reflection should attack.

            "We are surprised you did not sense him," it replied, "Your light was so drawn to his…it took all of our strength to blind him to it."  The reflection stepped to one side, revealing Inuyasha huddled on the ground, his head cradled in his arms, his hands over his ears as if he was trying shut out the world.

            "Inuyasha!" Kagome cried, falling on her knees beside him.  She instinctively put her arms around him, triumph flooding through her when she felt his warmth, his responding strength.  Nothing lashed out at her to drive her away, his form did not melt through hers like smoke.  "Inuyasha?"

            "Kagome?"  It was the softest of whispers, and Kagome could not be certain she had heard it.  Inuyasha made no effort to look at her, to respond in kind to her embrace.  Puzzled, the first inklings of doubt souring the triumph, Kagome loosened her arms slightly to look down at him.

            "I'm here," she said gently, "I'm here, Inuyasha.  It's over.  You must come with me."

            "I know," he muttered resignedly, "I'm ready."

            The abject despair and emptiness of his voice froze Kagome's heart.  _'I wasn't too late.  He's still here.  He can hear me now, and feel me!  Why then?  Why is it that…?'_

            "He hears your words," her voice answered her, "But it is our voice, our meaning that he takes to his heart.  Release him, annoyance; you only prolong the ordeal for us."

            "Like hell I will!" Kagome raged, turning her attention to her copy without releasing Inuyasha, "You've lost!  He will listen to me and we are going to leave this hell together!"

            "Kagome, let's go," Inuyasha said beneath her.  He raised his head and met her eyes.

            "Oh no," Kagome gasped, pulling back in shock, "Inuyasha, no…"

            His dark blank eyes stared at her, unseeing.  The remnants of his spirit were still there, but the flame was so low.  Only in her nightmare had she seen his approaching death so clearly.

            "What did you do to him?!" Kagome shrieked at the reflection, "What the hell did you do?!"

            "Only what he allowed himself to do," the reflection answered blandly, "He allowed himself to see his true nature.  He is only giving up to the inevitable."

            "The inevitable?!" Kagome yelled, getting to her feet.  Rage at the thing that bore her face made her vision swim red.  She balled her fists and launched herself at the copy.  "You made him see it!  You tricked him!  You showed him illusions and drove him mad with guilt!"

            Her fists met with empty air.  Kagome spun about, seeking her enemy while her blood pounded hot and fierce through her.

            "We cannot show anything that does not already exist," the reflection said as it knelt beside Inuyasha and ran its fingers through his hair in a mockery of affection.

            "You stay away from him!" Kagome yelled, diving forward.

            "So clumsy and so futile," the reflection hissed, suddenly stand out of arms reach behind her.  Kagome turned her head and glared, but did not attack.  There was no way she was going to leave Inuyasha's side again.  She had to find some way to break the yoru-kyoufu's hold in some way other than blind charges.  "We really do not understand why you are so determined or how you managed to come so far when you are so ill-disciplined.  You are no miko, and yet you defy us."

            Kagome gritted her teeth at the taunting, but did not otherwise show her irritation.  "I may not be a miko," she retorted, "but I will fight you with everything that I have to bring Inuyasha back with me.  If you give up now, you'll save yourself the trouble, since convenience seems to be so high on your priorities."

            The reflection cocked its head to one side in a way that Kagome recognized as one of her own mannerisms.  "Convenience is very high, yes," it answered, holding her with its dead eyes, "But this soul has resisted for a long time, much longer than most.  We will not sacrifice it now to the demands of an annoying human brat."

            "I'll keep being annoying, then," Kagome shot back, "That seems to be your weakness.  You can pull all sort lies and tricks, but now that I'm here, I won't let Inuyasha fall any further.  I will make him see that you were only lying to him."

            "Yes, lying," it said, "You seem to come back to that word a lot.  We did not lie to him; it is not in our nature.  We are the stuff of nightmares, the phantoms of a soul's creation.  We cannot assume any form that he has not already conjured himself."

            The burning of the funeral pyre.  The murder of the crowd.  Kikyou rended by merciless claws.

            "No!" Kagome blurted, shaking her head at the memory, "You're lying!  You took his worst nightmares and made them real for him!  And then you perverted them further, making him kill those people and Kikyou!"

            "We made him?" the reflection echoed, "Have you not heard of free will?  It is rather more annoying than you are on the whole, but, given the right guidance, it can be quite useful.  You say we lie, and we say we merely show a version of the truth."

            "A truth that serves your own ends, and that's the same thing as lying!" Kagome exclaimed, "Inuyasha would never have acted in such a way, I know it!"

            The reflection laughed, high, cruel, mocking laughter.  "Truly not a miko!  But it seems you know nothing of the nature of the one you say you love!"  The laughter died abruptly.  "He was shown his worst nightmares, yes, but he was always free to choose the way he would react.  You seem to believe that he would have turned his back on his mother's shame, forgiven those who cared not if he burned to death, given up power, or given up his life to die with his friends.  But it was not in his nature to do so, and he falls into a darkness of his own making.  He is like us, consuming, of fear and terror, of hatred and violence.  He cannot be but else."

            "I don't believe you," Kagome said evenly, "Inuyasha is nothing like you describe.  He cares for his friends.  He is willing to go through anything for them.  He's risked his life for them…for me.  Any weakness you might think he has is more than overwhelmed by his strength."

            "And yet he sits there, ready to follow us into the darkness," the reflection pointed out somewhat gleefully, "Where is this strength you speak of, annoyance?  It was all an illusion to begin with."

            "He might have thought such things before," Kagome admitted.

            The reflection grinned.

            "But he would never act on them!  He wouldn't even really consider them as options unless you forced it on him!  All those things, the anger, the fear, you forced on him."

            The reflection only grinned wider, a cunning, feral showing of teeth that Kagome shuddered to see on her own face.

            Kagome clenched her fists against the sudden drop of her heart.  What is there was something true in what the yoru-kyoufu said?  _'You're letting it get to you, girl, come one, fight it!'_  "It is not," she said, almost to herself.  _'Come on, what is the yoru-kyoufu's weakness?  You know it lies, so fight it with…'  _ "I am here now because I love him.  I am here because I know he loves me, and would face the same risks for my sake.  I am no illusion that you can manipulate.  I am the truth that will take him from your hands."

            For the first time, the reflection's countenance appeared troubled, if only for a moment.  "Love is it?" it bit back, somewhat hastily, "What is love but a justification for generations of hormone-driven procreation for the sake of making a species survive?  Do we need to show you what his base desires are?   Love is nothing."

            "Is that so?" Kagome retorted.  She stood and reached out toward the reflection.  The image flinched slightly.  Kagome let her hand drop to her side, a triumphant smile on her lips.  "Then why are you afraid of my touch?  I think only of protecting Inuyasha and bringing him back, no matter the cost to myself.  If love is nothing, then why do cower when I reach for you?"

            "I-It's nothing like that!" the reflection stammered.  A snarl contorted its lips as Kagome took another step forward.  "Stay back, or w-we will…!"

            "What?  What can you do to me or to him, as long as our love binds us together?" Kagome demanded, "If you think you will take him to Hell, you'll have to get through me first!"

           The challenge had the impact of a physical blow.  The reflection crumpled in pain, folding in on itself like a paper doll.  A shrill scream pierced Kagome's ears as the darkness swallowed itself.  She flung herself onto Inuyasha, shielding him with her body as the darkness swirled around them, driving into her like knives of iced fire.  Kagome gritted her teeth.  The torment was like nothing she had ever known.  Ever terror, every fear, every hate she had ever felt coursed through her.  She would have screamed if she had the breath.  She saw herself being consumed by the darkness, Inuyasha reaching for her in desperation, the knowledge that he had saved himself at the cost of her life stark on his face.  His weakness had left her to the dark, and her light would drown in a sea of black.  There was but an instant for her to speak her last words, to demand why he had betrayed her.  

            "I love you," Kagome said, and closed her eyes.

            "I love you."

            No words of accusation, of anger, of betrayal.  Inuyasha gaped at her, hardly daring to believe.  As the darkness closed her eyes for the final time, he clasped her to him.  "Kagome, don't leave me now!  I love you!  Kagome!!"

            The darkness shrieked as it was sundered by a nova of gold and blue light.

            "It is finished."

            "What!?"  Miroku and Sango leapt to their feet and stared open-mouthed at Kikyou.

            "Kaede, the incense, please," Kikyou said smoothly, ignoring them.  Kaede quickly proffered the last piece of incense, her tenseness clear in the abruptness of her movements.  Kikyou placed the incense in the dying red flame of the brazier.  The flame roared to life, sapphire blue limned in gold.  Kikyou paused and stared at it as if entranced.

            "What's wrong?" Miroku demanded, seeing Kikyou's hesitation.

            "What happened to them?" Sango burst at the same time, staring fearfully at the still bodies of her two friends.

            "Nothing, it…" Kikyou began, shaking her head as she turned her gaze away from the flame, "…it is nothing.  They are returning and I must concentrate to guide them safely, so sit down and be quiet."

            The terseness of Kikyou's reply was enough to freeze Sango and Miroku in place.  It took several more seconds before the purport of her words dawned on them.

            "Sango…!" Miroku gasped, turning to her.

            Sango merely grasped his hand and smiled, shaking her head as diamond tears shone in her eyes.

            The smoke that curled up from the flame was white as snow and nearly translucent.  It obeyed Kikyou's direction and curled around Inuyasha and Kagome, embracing their bodies like a living mist.

           "Return, oh wandering lights, rejoin with flesh and bone," Kikyou chanted, "Breathe life, restore the beat of the heart.  Turn from oblivion and the darkness.  Rejoin life, light, and hope."

            Inuyasha's body spasmed suddenly, a hoarse groan issuing from his lips.  

Sango's grip on Miroku's hand tightened like a vice.  

Very slowly, as if he was asleep, Inuyasha sat up.  His face was peaceful and his eyes were closed.  Unerringly, he reached out for Kagome and brought her lifeless body to him, cradling her in his arms.  Without thought or warning, he brought his face down to hers and kissed her.

All but Kikyou had to shield their eyes from the burst of light that flooded the shrine.

Kagome sucked in a lungful of what had to be the sweetest air she had ever breathed, gasping as life flooded through her.  Her limbs felt heavy and trembled as though she had swum a thousand miles.  And yet she felt no pain; she was swaddled in bliss, and if she opened her eyes…

"Yo."

Kagome smiled and crinkled her nose at the look in his warm golden eyes.  "Yo, yourself," she murmured.  Her eyes searched his, the last spark of anxiety searching for any remnant of the shadow that had nearly claimed them both.  Nothing was there but the bright burning of his spirit.  Kagome sighed in relief.  All her fears and doubts relieved, she could allow exhaustion to reclaim her.

Inuyasha chuckled, not willingly to let her get away so easily.  "You know I love you, right?" he whispered into her ear.

"Mmm," Kagome confirmed, and fell asleep in his arms.

Narrator here.  Oh my God…

I think I am going to have to do a little victory dance.  (proceeds to do the "Happy Hamster Dance of Victory")  Yay!  I did it!  I did a romance/angst/drama!  Whoo-hoo!  And I could not have done it without all of you reviewing and prodding me to finish.  Love to all of you!

**C-Chan: **Yep, it is good to be back.  But everything is not all said and done!  Ohohoho!!

**Crystal Twilight and Rika: **Here's a box of hankies, though I am sure I am bit late.  Maa maa, everything is all right now, neh?

**Thunk****: **(bows) Thank you so much for reviewing my work.  You have no idea how honored I am.  I love your work, of which I am sure you are aware.  Thank you again for reviewing!  Okay, you can put the banner away now…

**Dia****: **Ooo, I am blushing!  Ohohoho, I did not think anyone would be so complimentary of my style!  And, er, I hope your withdraw symptoms have lessened.  I promise not to delay too long in finishing up.  And yeah, the authoress/character interactions at the end are my favorite part, too!

**Inuyasha:** Only 'cuz you like torturing me.

**Narrator: **Duh.  Hardcore Kouga fangirl and all.

**Inuyasha: ***mutters something impolite about wolves and their women*

**Narrator: **Say what?

**Kagome: **Ah ha ha ha, nothing nothing! *steps between Inuyasha and Narrator, stepping on Inuyasha's foot very hard in the process* Don't mind him!  Oh, and thank you to everyone out there who said we should live!  Narrator seriously was considering letting me die…

**Narrator:** Only because you'd be the one everyone would miss most… *looks pointedly at Inuyasha*

**Inuyasha: *oblivious* **Why the #@$#$@$#!$# did you step on my foot, wench?!?!

**Kagome: -_- **Inuyashaaaaaa…

**Inuyasha: **O.O Oh shit…*brace for impact*

**Kagome: **You want some ice cream?

**Inuyasha: ***already face down on the floor* Argh, why did you…huh?

**Narrator: **I _knew_ it was the conditioning!

Okay minna-san, just one more chapter to tie up the loose ends.  Look forward to it please!

Salute!


	6. Epilouge: No Endings

Disclaimr: Ooops, I kinda forgot to do this in the last chapter.  Guess what?  The status on my owning Inuyasha hasn't changed since the last five %+*^ disclaimers!

**Somnium et Umbra: Dream and Shadow**

_Epilogue: No Endings_

            He pillowed her head on his arm, watching her as she slept, her deep, even breathing signaling that it was over.  All the terror and torment had been a lie, and the truth was cradled in his protective embrace.

            _'I won't lose you,'_ he promised her, _'I will never let my fears come between us, ever again.'_

            Almost as if she heard him, Kagome smiled slightly and snuggled closer into Inuyasha's chest, her warm breath caressing the bare skin at his throat.

            Pleasantly surprised but not at all adverse to her unconscious invitation, Inuyasha pulled her even closer, rolling slightly onto his back so that she would lie more comfortably against him.  He yawned, surprised that he could be so tired after having been unconscious for nearly an entire day.

            _'Just a little nap.__  I'll wake up in a little while and find out what exactly went on.  But right now…this feels very…nice…'_

            Kagome's eyes drifted open.  She was not at all surprised when the first thing she saw was Inuyasha's peacefully sleeping face.  She smiled when she noticed how his arms held her to him, encompassing her in a sure, gentle embrace.  His warmth comforted her, surrounding her as a physical reaffirmation of his love.  "Sleep just a while longer," she whispered to him, "I'll be back soon."

            Regretfully, she carefully withdrew herself from his side, watching his face to make certain he would not suddenly awaken.  Exhaustion lent her its services, however, and Inuyasha continued to sleep soundly as she searched for and found her coat.  She hesitated for a moment at the door before she departed, tracing her eyes fondly over his features.

            "I will be back soon," she promised again, and stepped out of the hut.

            The light snow from the day before had added a fresh layer to the already calf-high drifts that blanketed everything as far as her eyes could see.  Kagome rubbed the last vestiges of sleep from her eyes, wondering what time it was.

            "How are you feeling, Kagome-chan?" Sango asked, coming up the road from the village.  Her eyes flitted anxiously over her friend's face, and Sango was relieved to see nothing of the fear and strain or of the shadows that had almost claimed her.

            Kagome smiled brightly.  "Don't worry, Sango," she said, "There's nothing wrong.  In fact, I don't think I've felt this good in…well, ever."

            Sango responded with a smile of her own and a wry chuckle.  "Trust you to face the power of Hell and come out smiling," she said, "And Inuyasha?  Is he…?"  
            "He's asleep," said Kagome, "He's so cute when he sleeps.  I almost didn't want to get up, but I think it would have embarrassed him if he woke up to find me staring at him."

            "Perhaps," Sango said, "but why…?"

            "Kagome-sama!" Miroku called, coming up behind Sango.

            "Kagome!" Shippo trilled, jumping from the monk's shoulder into Kagome's open arms.  He snuggled into her embrace and stared up at her with inquisitive blue eyes.  "Why are you awake?  Kaede said you'd be asleep for a really long time 'cuz the spell would have taken a lot out of you."

            "Well, I feel fine," Kagome told him.

            "That is welcome news," Miroku said, "Kaede-sama is down in the village now, tending to one of the village children who's come down with a slight fever, but she said that we were all to let you an Inuyasha sleep as long as possible."

            "How long have I been asleep?" Kagome wondered aloud.

            "It's been an entire day since you first came back," Sango answered her, "You've slept a night and almost half the day."

            "Really?" Kagome said.

            "So, what was it like?" Shippo inquired with childish innocence.  Kagome glanced down at him, startled.  Sango and Miroku winced slightly, but Shippo did not notice.

            "Scary," Kagome answered truthfully, "I don't think I've ever been more afraid in my life."

            "But perhaps Kagome-sama can leave the rest of the details until after she has something to eat," Miroku hinted, fixing Shippo with a pointed stare when the kitsune opened his mouth to protest.

            "I'm not really hungry right now, but thank you all the same," Kagome said, "I think I'll go for a bit of a walk and...anyway, do you think you guys could stay with him until I get back?"

            "Of course we will," agreed Sango, "but are you sure you want to be walking out alone?"

            "I agree with Sango," said Miroku, "At least one of us should accompany you."

            "I appreciate your concern, guys," Kagome said lightly, but her tone brooked no argument, "but I think some time alone to think will be best for me."

            "Aw," Shippo whined, but he had enough sense to not employ doe-eyes to coerce Kagome into taking him along.  Kagome set him down on the ground and straightened.

            "I won't be gone long," she said to her friends, "Just in case Inuyasha wakes up, tell him not to worry."

            They nodded their assent and entered the hut, quietly stationing themselves for the vigil.

            "Where do you suppose she's going?" Sango asked Miroku sotto voce as she knelt beside the hut's fireplace to stoke the lowering flames.

            "She does need time to reflect over what happened, some solitude to search her soul," Miroku replied off-handedly as he examined the wood pile.

            Sango peered at him.  "You have no idea, do you?" she said rather than asked.

            Miroku sighed and shrugged.  "I am just a humble monk," he professed, and handed Sango several small logs to add to the fire.

            *SMACK!!*

           "What, you didn't think she would be able to hit you if her arms full of wood?" Shippo asked somewhat sarcastically, while Miroku made an involuntary examination of the dirt floor, "Why don't you just give her her boomerang and have her put you out of your misery?"

            Even in her jacket, the cold bite of the winter day made her shiver, and Kagome hugged herself to keep warm.  She walked to the far side of the clearing and back, and then decided to remain by the well.

            _'Where is she?'_ Kagome wondered, somewhat peeved that the sender of the summons that had dragged her out of contented sleep and Inuyasha's arms had not had to politeness to be waiting at the appointed place.  She sat down on the edge of the well and stared about, not wanting to be caught off guard when Kikyou showed up.  _'**If** she shows up…'_

            "Tell me what happened."

            "Ack!" Kagome yelped, almost falling off her perch.  Heat flushing her cheeks scarlet despite the cold, Kagome recovered as smoothly as she could and faced Kikyou.

"What do you want to know?"

            Kikyou replied, "I want to know what you saw."

            "Why?" Kagome asked, somewhat puzzled.  Kikyou almost seemed…concerned.

            "I was the one who helped you save Inuyasha," Kikyou bit out, "It's my right."

            _'Only because you were too afraid to do it yourself,'_ Kagome managed to not say.  "I could see everything…_feel_ everything," she said aloud, "every nightmare he has ever had, every sin he committed or even thought about, every cruel memory, all his despair, anger, hatred, loneliness…"  She trailed off as the words recalled her own terror and the lash of evil that had torn at her very soul.  "It was as though he had no memory of ever being held or loved."

            "Loved?" Kikyou echoed.  Kagome blinked and focused her attention on the miko.  Kikyou's voice had been soft, pained…regretful.  "I loved him," she continued, as if she could not feel Kagome's stare, "I remember it all, everything I dared not tell him, show him because my vows prevented me…even now I remember.  But I cannot…"

            "Kikyou?" Kagome asked hesitantly.

            "Was I a part of his nightmare?" Kikyou demanded, stoic serenity descending once more like a mask.

            "Yes," Kagome answered, "You killed him…"

            "A memory of that day, when we were betrayed by Naraku," Kikyou stated, rather than asked.  Kagome bit her lip, the hateful taunting of Kikyou's voice echoing in her ears and Inuyasha's berserk rage springing unbidden to the fore of her thoughts.  "Wasn't it?" Kikyou added as an afterthought.

            "Um…"

            "Whatever happened, I want to know," Kikyou said, "If Inuyasha could let himself be saved from willful destruction by you alone and not by me, then there must be a reason.  I want to know why."

            "You killed him…so you could give the Shikon no Tama to Naraku," Kagome said lowly.  _'Just like the time you almost killed me and gave that huge shard to him…and I couldn't tell Inuyasha that you were trying to kill me, although he could see it with his own eyes.'_

            "He believes that I would…?" Kikyou asked in clear disbelief, her distant façade disintegrating.  Her fists clenched, harder and harder till Kagome wondered that the miko was not bleeding.  _'But, then, she has no blood,'_ she had to tell herself.  Kikyou's eyes were dark with torment as she struggled to regain control.  Kagome stepped forward, her hands out to touch the miko, to reassure her, though Kagome had no earthly idea how.  "Stay away from me!" Kikyou burst out in a scream that was more than half a sob.  She leveled an open hand at Kagome, her eyes shining with tears that could never again be shed by dead eyes.  "I saw how you changed him," she spat, no vestige of a corpse beyond human emotion left in her, only the pain of a soul wounded by hatred and despair, "_I _should have been the one to change him, _I _should have been the one to save him!  Why did you have to come?!  Why couldn't I…why didn't I…!?"

            _'RUN!  RUN, YOU IDIOT, BEFORE SHE BLASTS YOU TO HELL OR WHATEVER PLACE SHE FANCIES SENDING RIVALS!  GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!'_ Kagome's mind screamed at her as she saw the crackling ball of blue energy gathering in Kikyou's outstretched hand.  It made excellent sense, perfect sense, in fact; only, Kagome could understand oh so well the confusion and heartache that was rioting in Kikyou's soul.  To have so loved Inuyasha that she would die for him…Kagome sympathized.

            "Kikyou, I'm sorry," Kagome said, though her heart hammered in her throat, "I love him.  I was willing to make the same sacrifice as you, if that meant he could go on living.  For the longest time, I thought that he could only love you, and I envied you.  But I was willing to let him choose.  Inuyasha has a good heart, and he would never wish to harm you; he still lives in agony every day for his hatred of you.  I want to help him live each day, help him to get through the pain, to find whatever happiness that he's looking for.  I don't want him to be consumed by hatred, or regret, or a desire for vengeance.  Please, I only want to be allowed to love him."

            Kikyou's eyes narrowed and the barest hint of a snarl curled her lip.  "How noble," she whispered, and released the spell.

            "Kagome!  Kagome, where are you?!" Inuyasha called, running through the forest, following her tracks toward the well.  _'Why in the name of the seven hells did she leave?!'_  Sango, Miroku, and Shippo had done their best to detain them, but once Shippo had blurted out that Kagome had gone out for a walk, _alone_, they might as well tried holding back a typhoon with a paper screen.  _'When is she going to learn?!'_  "Kagome!"

            "Inuyasha!" Kagome yelled back.  His sharp ears locked onto the sound of her voice, half-terrified and desperate for help.  Inuyasha cut down the trees in his way with a slash of his claws, turning the old pines into matchwood.  He saw Kagome slumped beside the well, huddling over herself as though she were wounded.

            "It's Kikyou!  She…!" Kagome managed.

            _'NO!'_ Inuyasha's mind screamed.  Kikyou had been present at his awakening, but he dared not speak to her then; the memory of her betrayal and his claws shattering her fragile body, no matter how false it had been, was too fresh in his mind for him to even meet her eyes.  Had she come back and hurt Kagome because…?

            "…it was right behind me," Kagome was sobbing, "I didn't see it because I thought she was going to…oh God, Inuyasha, I didn't know!  She…she…"

            "Where is she!?" Inuyasha demanded, running up beside Kagome to take her into his arms.  He could smell none of her blood, and he prayed that he had come in time to prevent nay harm to her.  But what was this babbling about?  And why did the stench of blasted you-ki and spiritual power pervade the very air of the clearing?  "What did she do to you?"

            "W-what?" Kagome asked, raising her tear-streaked face to stare at him with uncomprehending eyes. "Inuyasha, can't you see?"  Kagome shifted, so that Inuyasha could see the oh-so-familiar body that was cradled in her lap.  Kikyou stared up at him, pain evident in her eyes, but there was none of the hatred that he had come to know from her.  There were no marks upon her body, but if she was wounded, no blood would have flowed anyway.

            "Kikyou?" Inuyasha breathed.  _'What's going on here?'_

            "Inuyasha…" Kikyou's whisper was soft and somewhat resigned, "I allowed unwilling vows to keep myself from ever showing you the love I truly felt for you in my first life.  Hatred and vengeance has kept from you in this one.  I…lost you to this girl when I demanded your death.  I can see that now."

            "Don't talk," Kagome pleaded, "Kikyou, if you keep talking, you're not going to…"

            "To live?" Kikyou finished hollowly, "I've died under worse circumstances.  But I will not die today.  I will fulfill my purpose of revenge and return to Death peacefully."

            "If you hadn't seen that youkai," Kagome whispered, "If you hadn't left yourself open, I would have died and…"

            "And Inuyasha would never have forgiven me," Kikyou said, "Isn't that right, Inuyasha?"

            "I…" Inuyasha managed, completely confused at this point.  There had been danger, Kagome had almost died, he had not been there, and _Kikyou_ had saved Kagome?

            "When the two flames became one, I knew that your bond went deeper than anything I…we had ever experienced.  We might have, if I had been allowed to, but that is the burden of the dead, I suppose," Kikyou said half to herself, "Regret is all I have left…except to avenge what happened to us at the hands of Naraku."  Slowly, the miko raised herself up, coldly brushing away Kagome's fumbling attempts to help her.  Pain that was not merely physical was etched into her face as she gazed down at Kagome.  "You had better keep to your words, girl; I would say they were too pretty for the likes of you if you had not done what you did yesterday," she said.  "And you," she turned to Inuyasha, "find this happiness that is worth living your life for.  Naraku's latest attack will not go unanswered by me, but your fight is going to continue until he is dead.  I will be waiting for you at the end of this."  She raised her hand to the grey sky and almost immediately, the serpentine wraiths, her soul-stealers, came down to her, wending about their lady to bear her aloft into the sky before the stunned girl and hanyou could say aught to her.

            _'I will see you at the end of all this,'_ Kikyou's final words came to Kagome.

            _'Yes.  The end is far away, though,'_ Kagome replied.  "Inuyasha?" Kagome called gently, touching his hand.  He looked down at her, confusion still apparent in his eyes.  She clung to him as he helped her to his feet and silenced his question with a kiss.  "I can explain everything to you, because now there is nothing that will ever prevent us from being free to love each other."

            "Just don't disappear like that again," Inuyasha replied, his eyes softening as relief flooded through him.  _'I can trust my life to you.  I don't ever want to lose you.'_

            "I promise," said Kagome, closing her eyes as he skimmed his lips over her cheeks, molding her body to his as he claimed her mouth in a kiss that banished all thoughts of fear and doubt.  _'I will live my life with you, my love.  The end is always far away when you are with me…'_

*~ OWARI ~*

Narrator here.  Yay, I finished it!  Woot! *does little Happy-Hamster Dance of Victory*  Thank you to everyone who stuck through this and let me finish.  Technically, the story ended last chapter, but I just _had_ to resolve the thing with Kikyou.  As a tragic figure, she is all right, but when you get down to it, she is a very difficult _person_ to like.  Yeah, there is that hang up that she is dead because of a plot that made her hate her one love in life, but geez…lighten up and get revenge, honey!  And do not go tormenting your poor former-pookie while you are it.  It was mainly because she kept insisting that her past love with Inuyasha entitled her to death with him that rather pissed me off, because if you truly love someone, you ought to be happy that they live on with the memory of your love untainted by hatred and regret.  I know Kikyou might seem a little (a lot) OOC in this epilogue, but hey, she cannot always be the frigid bitch if she still has love for Inuyasha.  Heck, she is fighting Naraku and she does get pissed every once in a while.  I had to make her a little human or I would have ended up hating her.

Whew, okay, rant is over.  I should thank all of my marvelous reviewers right now:

**Chibi-Washu: **Thank you very much! *bows*

**Kelly-chan: **Yeah, like I said in the rant, I do not necessarily hate her, I just do not particularly like her.  And is rather too easy to villainize those we do not like.  Oh, favorite fic?  I am honored! (Kanashimi: Oh great, you just _had_ to go and feed her ego, didn't you?)  I cannot wait for the next chapter of "Sailor Bish"!

**C. M. Forde: **Right.  *hides her bag of carrots* Get more sleep, dang it, you are weird enough on a regular basis as it is!

**Ithilwen****:** To be honest, your review is what convinced me to get off my ass and really tie up the loose ends with Kikyou.  Argh, why could you not have just let me be lazy?!  Hopefully, this end justifies all the waiting.  If not…then you can have Kanashimi's whip.  Just give me a five-second head start…

**respectedspirit****: **Aw, do not cry!  See, it all works out in the end!

**Pogo: **And here is the epilogue!  I _really _wanted to end it at the last chapter but _some people _just would not let it go *erhem!*

**Az****:**  But I _like it _when Inuyasha smiles!  He needs to do more of it!  Am I right, people, am I right?  I agree that Kagome is very good about acknowledging her weaknesses, which is why I like her more than Kikyou when you get down to it.  She is a very real character, which was why she was a lot easier to write about than Inuyasha and Kikyou (she is remarkably saner than both of them).  And yeah, I was worried about the WAFF, seeing as how I do not like writing it, for the most part.  But darn it, there are just times when you have to go in and give things a little prod.  *hides cattle prod behind her back*  Heh heh…

**C-chan: **Please, I know it is late, but try not to be too upset with me.  I only hope this epilogue makes up for all the waiting.

**Rika: **Thank you!  Normally, I figure I/K scenes involve Inuyasha being embarrassed about his growing feelings and acting like an ass to cover for it, while Kagome suffers like a saint, so it was more fun when he stopped being an idiot for once.  *thwacks Inuyasha with her bokken (a.k.a., Japanese Shillelagh)*

**Inuyasha: **Dammit, Narrator, what the hell was that for?!

**Narrator: ***twitch* If you need to be told, I obviously did not hit you hard enough.  *raises bokken*

**Kagome: **Calm down you two!  Inuyasha, just let it go.  She didn't kill us, we got to kiss and…stuff, and she's going off to field training in two weeks, so she won't be able to torture us for a whole month!

**Inuyasha: **Oh yeah.  Ha ha, sucks to be you, Narrator!

**Narrator: **Just you wait, inu-kuro!  All the screaming FTOs, MTIs, and CTAs in the world cannot stop me from my quest to spread insanity throughout the fanfiction world!  I will return triumphant, and you will tremble at the scenarios I will have dreamt up for you! *froths at the mouth*

**Inuyasha: **o_O

**Kagome: **If I send you cookies, will you leave us alone?

**Narrator: **I am not allowed to have cookies.

**Kagome: **How about candy?

**Narrator: **Can't have that either.****

**Kagome: ***getting desperate* How about we kidnap Kouga and Fed-Ex him to you?

**Narrator: **Honey-child, you got yourself a deal!  *glomps Kagome, then Inuyasha for good measure, then goes into Kouga-fangirl dreamland*Oh, Kouga-sama!  *^.^*

**Inuyasha: ***sweatdrop*How far away is "Ellsworth" again?

**Kagome: ***figuring stuff out on a calculator* Enough that you're going to have to get a part-time job at WacDonald's to help pay for the postage.  Now, get a move on before she recovers!  *shoves a protesting Inuyasha out of Narrator's Authorspace*

Salute!  See you in June, when I get back from the fun that is ROTC field training!


End file.
